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MEMOIR 

OP 

CAPTAIN 

EDWARD PELHAM JRENTON, 

R.N., C.B. 



WITH SKETCHES OP HIS 

PROFESSIONAL LIFE, 

AND 

EXERTIONS IN THE CAUSE OF HUMANITY, 

AS CONNECTED WITH 

THE "CHILDREN'S FRIEND SOCIETY," &c. 

OBSERVATIONS UPON HIS "NAVAL HISTORY," 

AND 

"LIFE OF THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT." 



BY HIS BROTHER, 

VICE-ADMIRAL SIR JAHLEEL JRENTON, 

BART., K.C.B. 



LONDON : 
JAMES NISBET AND CO., BERNERS STREET; 

HATCHARD AND SON, PICCADILLY; HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO., 

PATERNOSTER ROW; JOHNSTONE, EDINBURGH; AND 

WILLIAM CURRY AND CO., DUBLIN. 

1842. 










^ 



ARTHUR FOSTER, PRINTER, KTRKBY LONSDALE. 



THE RIGHT HONOURABLE 

SIR GEORGE COCKBURN, 

ADMIRAL OF THE RED. 



My dear Sir George, 

You knew my late and lamented brother early 
in life. He had the honour of bearing your broad 
pendant in the first line-of-battle ship he com- 
manded, and had the happiness of enjoying your 
friendship to the last. It naturally occurred to me 
to dedicate this memorial of him to you. Your 
kind acceptance of it is the strongest confirmation 
of his value both in public and in private life. 

It is with the greatest satisfaction I avail myself 
of this permission, and beg you will receive this 
little work as a testimony of the respect and esteem 
with which 

I am, 

My dear Sir George, 
Your faithful and obliged Servant, 

JAHLEEL BRENTON. 



PREFACE. 



In venturing to lay before the public an account 
of the life of a near and valued relative, I feel 
that it is incumbent upon me to offer my reasons 
for doing so, particularly as it was not his lot to 
attain either to high rank or distinction in his 
profession; but as my lamented brother has been 
known to his country, not only as an officer in 
the Royal Navy, but as an author, and more 
especially — as I trust I may say, without incur- 
ring the charge of presumption, — -as a philan- 
thropist, (in which two last characters he has met 
with no small share of that censure from which 



VI PREFACE. 

those who have occupied any place in the public 
attention have seldom been exempt,) I feel it 
necessary to offer such explanations of his cha- 
racter and conduct, and such vindications of his 
motives and feelings, as my intimate knowledge 
of them enable me to do : and which may, and I 
hope will, have the effect of correcting the mis- 
representations which have hitherto prevailed on 
subjects connected with my brother's life, and 
of placing him in that point of view before 
the public in which it was always his earnest 
wish and endeavour to stand. 

With respect to his professional career, I 
have little to say : his opportunities of distin- 
guishing himself were but few; but of these 
he zealously availed himself; and his reputation 
is well known to his brother officers, amongst 
whom he served. I have long hesitated as to 
the propriety of offering any observations of 
my own upon the subject of his life, nor do I 
think I should ever have been induced to do so, 



PREFACE. Vll 

but for the opposition the Children's Friend 
Society, of which he was the founder, has met 
with, and which has had so powerful an effect 
as to compel the benevolent and indefatigable 
managers to dissolve the institution. My great 
object in presenting this work to the public is 
to shew that the plan on which he acted was 
founded on the purest principles of true Chris- 
tian charity, and free from any selfish or vain- 
glorious motive, and that the charges made 
against the Society were totally groundless. 
This is already generally felt and acknow- 
ledged; and however unsuccessful his first ef- 
forts may have been in endeavouring to rescue 
the youthful poor from the state of degradation, 
misery, and crime in which such multitudes are 
involved, I have little doubt that they will be 
ultimately blessed far beyond his most sanguine 
expectations. 

JAHLEEL BRENTON. 

Casterton, 

\Qth August, 1841. 



CONTENTS. 

Memoirs: Early Life 1 

Professional Life 11 

Private Life 33 

Society for the Suppression of Juvenile Vagrancy 46 

Diary 141 

Society for the Suppression of Juvenile Vagrancy 168 

Observations on Brenton's Naval History 222 

Life of the Earl of St. Vincent.... 325 

Conclusion 353 



MEMOIRS 



CAPTAIN 



EDWARD PELHAM BRENTON, 

R.N., C. B. 



It is due to the memory of this lamented indi- 
vidual, that some notice should be taken of a life, 
so many years of which had been devoted (al- 
most exclusively, it may be said) to the interests 
of his fellow-creatures; indeed, it is but too 
probable that its termination was accelerated* by 
his exertions in their behalf. And these obser- 
vations are rendered peculiarly necessary, in 
consequence of the repeated attacks which have 
been made recently in the public prints against 
the Children's Friend Society, of which he is 
considered the founder. 



MK MOIRS. 



We shall be very brief in our account of the 
life of the subject of these memoirs, and only 
offer such observations as will tend to shew his 
early devotion to the profession he had chosen, 
and which he imbibed from his father. 

Captain Edward Pelham Brenton was the 
second son of the late Rear- Admiral Jahleel 
Brenton. He was born at Rhode Island, in 
North America, on the 20th July, 1774. The 
sea became his element, and the naval profession 
occupied a very prominent place in his affections. 
Its success was the object of his most earnest so- 
licitude through life; even the labours of his 
latter days had a continual reference to the wel- 
fare of the seafaring part of our population, and 
to the means of promoting the increased comfort 
of our seamen. 

He commenced his naval career, it may be 
said, almost in infancy, having embarked in the 
Queen, armed ship, then commanded by his fa- 
ther, in May, 1781, before he was seven years of 
age, and continued in that ship and the Terma- 
gant till near the conclusion of the war, when he 
was sent to a school, at Ware, in Hertfordshire. 
Here he continued two years, and then joined 
his father's family in France, at St. Omer. He 



EARLY LIFE. 3 

soon acquired a competent knowledge of the 
French language, which he found of essential 
service to him throughout his professional life. 

On the 13th Nov. 1788, he joined the Crown, 
64, Captain James Cornwallis, at Chatham, fitting- 
out for the broad pendant of Commodore Corn- 
wallis, who was appointed commander-in-chief in 
the East Indies. The lieutenants, Isaac Schoni- 
berg, Lawrence William Halstead, Charles Cun- 
ningham, Edward Oliver Osborne, Edward James 
Foote, and Lord Henry Paulet, and afterwards 
John Giffard. As all these officers rose to high 
rank and eminent distinction in the wars which 
followed, and we find a pleasure, as well as a 
benefit, in tracing the career of such men, we 
have ventured to record their names, as given in 
a memorandum found among Captain Brenton's 
papers; and from the same source we extract the 
subjoined amusing account of his first joining his 
ship. 

"Every thing that Smollet says about the mi- 
series of a man-of-war I found exactly and cor- 
rectly true in 1788. I was put to mess in the 
starboard wing. All my messmates, except the 
caterer, were very kind to me. He was very 
irritable, but otherwise much esteemed. We 



4 MEMOIRS. 

never hit it off well. He wanted me to do the 
work of mess-servant, to which I stoutly objected. 
One morning he gave me a sound box on the ear, 
because I put the pewter tea spoons on the left 
side of the breakfast cups instead of the right. 
This set me off; and the next act of despotism 
induced me to quit the mess at once. But I had 
not then read the wise and sound advice of Lord 
Bacon, "Never to give up any thing in a pet." 
None of the other youngsters had yet joined. I 
had no mess to go to, so I went and lived on my 
chest in the gun-room, feeding upon plum cake 
that my dear mother had given me, and button- 
ing up my surtout to keep me warm; but I got 
very bilious with my new diet, and a drink of 
small beer when thirsty. At last I became very 
ill, and went to the doctor's mate, as he was 
called in those days — the moderns would call him 
the surgeon's assistant. He was the very per- 
sonification of Smollet's Morgan. I told him my 
case, and was at once put under the care of the 
Loblolly Boy.* The neglect with which I was 
treated had almost made me resolve to give up 
the service. Chilblains came on to an alarming 

* The Surgeon's drudge — whose duty it was to collect the pa- 
tients, and administer to each his dose. 



EARLY LIFE. O 

extent, and I was so perfectly useless in the ship, 
and burthensome to my self, that I determined to 
return home if it were possible. The consum- 
mation of this was more speedily accomplished 
than I was aware of, or than I wished for myself. 
We sailed from the Great Nore on the 22nd of 
Dec. 1788, for Portsmouth; and in running down 
the Swin Channel, concluded we were in safety, 
when, with a fair wind and topmast steering-sail 
set, our pilot ran us upon the Kentish Knock, 
and a pretty knock we got. Off went our rud- 
der, down came the tiller upon my hammock in 
the gun-room, in which I lay as sick as any new- 
raised recruit could be. But sea-sickness and 
fear never sleep together in the same hammock, 
so out I turned; but it was a dismal time for me 
with my chilblains. I put my head up the lad- 
der; it was dark and snowing — six o'clock in the 
evening — minute guns firing — all noise and con- 
fusion — wet, slippery, and piercing cold. I found 
I could be of no use, so I very quietly turned in 
again. Providentially the ship drifted off the 
shoal, and we came to an anchor, continuing to 
fire our minute guns, and rockets, and to keep 
our signal lights up; nor was it long before some 
Broadstairs boats came to our assistance. The 



6 



mi; MO IKS. 



charge of the ship was taken out of the pilot's 
hands, and he was placed under arrest. The 
boatmon soon shewed us where we were, and A\ r e 
got under way. I remember as well as if it was 
yesterday, we had two boats on each quarter, and 
they steered us perfectly well through the Gull 
stream into the Downs, where we made a Paken- 
ham rudder.* When we got to Spithead, the 
pilot was tried by a court-martial, and sentenced 
to two years imprisonment in the Marshalsea. 
and mulct of his pay. 

"It was the fashion to say our ship would cer- 
tainly be lost, because she met with so many 
accidents before she sailed — first she got on shore 
— then she broke adrift in Portsmouth harbour — 
then she caught fire. The prophecies however 
all failed. We sailed for India, and were out 
three years. I was in her all the time, and never 
was so happy in my life, although the rats used 
to run about as tame as rabbits. We used to 
catch them with fish hooks, stab them with forks 
or cutlasses, and dress and eat them." 

The above extracts will, we trust, be excused, 
as they give so graphic an account of the suffer- 
ings to which young people were exposed on first 

* So called after the inventor, the late Captain Edward Pakenham. 



EARLY LIFE, 



entering the navy, and at the same time shew the 
elasticity of the youthful mind under the endur- 
ance of them. The service is much ameliorated 
since that period, and far less inconveniences are 
experienced, we may say, by all classes. 

Captain Brenton evinced, from a very early 
period, a peculiarly active and enquiring state of 
mind — great quickness, and a remarkable degree 
of cheerfulness. His memory was very reten- 
tive; and the observations he made, even in 
youth, were surprisingly acute and original. 
Whatever he undertook was carried on with a 
degree of energy which shewed that his heart 
was in the work; and all who were associated 
with him, as officers or as subordinates, will re- 
cognise these features in his character. 

It was a constant habit with him to treasure 
up, under the various trials to which he was ex- 
posed, such reflections as arose out of them, and 
which might be of use to the inexperienced. 
Amongst his papers we find the following ad- 
vice, which will be of the utmost importance, if 
attended to by young persons in their first out- 
set in life, who are irritable and impatient: 

" There is nothing a young person on board 
a ship, should more carefully avoid than being 



MEMOIRS. 



quarrelsome or touchy. Offence taken at trifles 
often leads to very serious consequences — angry 
words arise, and the best friends are often made 
enemies for life. Those who are apt to take of- 
fence, should be also careful not to commit a fault 
which young people of all ranks in life, and par- 
ticularly on board ship, are very apt to fall into. 
Among the sailors, or foremast men, the affair 
generally leads to a boxing match; when one 
or both parties are sure to get a sound beating, 
and probably brought to the gangway and flog- 
ged for it the next day. Among the young 
officers, serious catastrophes often arise." 

Amongst the many friends he met with in his 
youth, I believe he derived very important ad- 
vantages from his friend, Admiral Giffard, who 
was one of the lieutenants of the Crown, when 
he was a midshipman in that ship. To his 
friendly advice > and to the use of his books and 
his cabin, much of the steadiness of his charac- 
ter and his habits of reading may be attributed. 
Officers are not often aware of the influence 
they obtain over the young people who are thus 
placed near them, by such kind attentions, and 
how much the youthful mind may be elevated 
above the thoughtless and childish habits in 



EARLY LIFE. V 

which they are prone to indulge, if left to them- 
selves: were they sensible of this, there is no 
doubt but the effort would be more frequently 
made. The judicious officer has much in his 
power in this way, even as a lieutenant; but as 
regards the captain, such attention to those 
placed under his care becomes a sacred duty, 
for the performance of which he possesses every 
requisite; and by a mild exercise of the authority 
with which he is vested, can almost ensure suc- 
cess. There are many brilliant and distinguished 
officers who may ascribe all the respect and emi- 
nence to which they have attained, under Pro- 
vidence, to the kind care and example of the 
officers with whom they began their career: this 
we believe to have been peculiarly the case in 
the present instance, and is confirmed by the 
kindness and affection which subsisted between 
the subject of these memoirs and his kind 
friend. 

The following extract from Captain Brenton's 
early memoranda, if not of much present inte- 
rest, will, at all events, shew his youthful habits 
of observation, which retained their influence to 
the end of his life — as such it legitimately be- 
longs to his biography: 



10 MEMOIRS. 

" The inhabitants of the Andaman Islands 
were few in number, but their hostility was at 
first troublesome; they were very expert with 
the bow and arrow — transfixing, as they wan- 
dered along the shore, the small fish with great 
certainty, and the wild hog seldom escaped from 
the dexterity of his pursuers. At north-east 
harbour our boats rowed along the thick jungle, 
which, projecting some feet from the land, grew 
over and touched the water, forming an impene- 
trable thicket, from whence the savage shot his 
arrow in security with almost unerring aim. 
The boats returned with four men wounded, and 
disappointed in the object of their search to find 
fresh water. The commodore, with a strong- 
party of officers and marines, landed on a small 
island, to which three canoes had been seen to 
go early on the same morning. On this spot 
the trees were, as on the main land, so thick that 
our men could not penetrate; and as they 
walked round the sandy beach, in search of an 
entrance, eleven of them received severe wounds 
from the arrows of the savages concealed in the 
woods. Some hours elapsed before they were 
discovered: at length, when seen on the tops of 
the trees, the enraged marines quickly despatched 



EARLY LIFE. 11 

seven of them, and three were taken with their 
canoes. Never was a man found in a more per- 
fect state of nature: they were all males, with- 
out a vestige of clothing; their woolly heads 
smeared with a red ochre; their bodies tattoed; 
their stature under the middling size, or about 
four feet seven inches. They exhibited the ut- 
most degree of terror, when brought on board, 
with their hands tied behind their backs, and 
attempted to bite all who came near them; but 
were pacified by kindness, and soon became so 
familiar as to dance, in their stile, to the drum 
and fife. We had strong suspicion of their be- 
ing cannibals; some of the governor's people at 
Port Cornwallis having been found murdered, 
and slices cut out of them, as if intended for 
food. They appeared apprehensive they were 
to meet a similar fate, and, at night, one of 
them jumped overboard, and escaped; the other 
two, on the following day, were landed, and we 
saw them no more." 

Soon after his return from India, in 1792, 
Mr. Brenton passed his examination for a lieu- 
tenant, and was placed by Sir Philip Affleck, (a 
friend of his father's,) on board the Bellona, 74, 
commanded by Captain George Wilson. In 



12 



MEMOIRS. 



August, 1794, he was transferred to the Queen 
Charlotte, bearing the flag of Earl Howe, from 
whence he was promoted, the following year, to 
the rank of lieutenant, and appointed to the Ve- 
nus frigate, under the command of his old friend 
and shipmate, Captain (afterwards Admiral) 
Sir Laurence William Halstead, and shortly 
afterwards, with him, into the Phoenix, a frigate 
of a larger class, in which he assisted at the cap- 
ture of the Dutch frigate, Argo. 

From the Phoenix, Mr. Brenton was appointed 
to the Agamemnon, and, subsequently, became 
first-lieutenant of the Raven, a fine brig sloop of 
18 guns, in which vessel he was wrecked, at the 
mouth of the river Elbe, on the 4th of February, 
1798. The situation of the crew was most aw- 
ful for some hours, the sea making a continued 
breach over them; but the whole were at length 
rescued by the good conduct of some blanquenese 
boats, which came to their assistance. Upon the 
court-martial taking place upon the loss of the 
Raven, at which the captain, officers, and crew 
were fully acquitted, Captain Bligh, who was 
one of the members, made Mr. Brenton the offer 
to serve with him in the Agincourt, 64, bearing 
the flag of Vice- Admiral Lord Radstock, going 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 13 

out as commander-in-chief in the Newfoundland 
station. This he readily accepted, and at length 
became first-lieutenant of that ship, in 1801. 
He followed Captain Bligh into the Theseus in 
the same capacity, and at the conclusion of the 
peace in that year went with him to the West 
Indies, where he soon after was promoted unto 
the command of the Lark sloop of war, by Earl 
St. Vincent, at that time First Lord of the Ad- 
miralty. 

At the peace of Amiens, he returned to Eng- 
land, when the Lark was paid off. He soon 
after married Miss Margaret Diana Cox, the 
daughter of the late General Cox, Equery to 
His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester: 
she is living to deplore her severe loss, after the 
experience of thirty-seven years of real domestic 
felicity, uninterrupted but by those periods of 
separation which his profession rendered un- 
avoidable. 

At the renewal of hostilities in May, 1803, 
Captain Brenton was appointed to command the 
Merlin armed ship, an old collier, having 16 guns 
between decks. In this vessel he was frequently 
engaged with the enemy's flotilla and the bat- 
teries on the coast in the neighbourhood of Havre. 



14 MEMOIRS. 

In Dec. 1803, having observed H. M. S. Shan- 
non on shore under the batteries of Tatihou Is- 
land, near Cape Barfleur, and in possession of 
the enemy, he resolved to attempt her destruc- 
tion. From the position of the Shannon, it was 
evident that she had ran aground by keeping too 
close to the weather shore in a gale of wind, ow- 
ing to the strength of the tides. She was appa- 
rently but little damaged, and the French having 
sent the officers and crew into the interior as 
prisoners, were laying out anchors for the pur- 
pose of getting the ship off. Captain Brenton 
sent his boats at night under the command of his 
two lieutenants, John Sheridan and Henry C. 
Thompson, who gallantly boarded and burned 
her, notwithstanding a heavy fire from the bat- 
teries, and returned to their ship without a man 
killed or wounded. At daylight not a vestige of 
the Shannon appeared above water. In his na- 
val history it will be remarked that Captain 
Brenton neither mentions his own name or even 
that of his ship in the narrative of this affair, but 
does justice to his gallant young officers by re- 
cording their names. 

Captain Brenton was subsequently employed 
with the squadron under Captain Oliver, on the 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 15 

French coast, and assisted at the bombardment 
of Havre, in July and August, 1804. 

In Jan. 1805, he was appointed to the Ania- 
ranthe, a fine new brig, mounting 18 guns, with 
120 men, and was for some time employed in the 
north seas, where his activity was rewarded by 
several captures. 

In 1808, he was sent to the West Indies, and 
was very actively employed on the Leeward Is- 
land station. On the 13th of Dec, he so gal- 
lantly distinguished himself, that in consequence 
of the official account of his conduct given by 
Captain Collier, the senior officer of the squad- 
ron, and transmitted to the Admiralty, their 
Lordships were pleased to promote him to the 
rank of Captain, and as a further mark of their 
approbation, to order his commission to be dated 
on the day of the action. The following is an 
extract from Captain Collier's letter. After de- 
tailing an unsuccessful attack made by the boats 
of the little squadron on the preceding day upon 
a French brig of war and two schooners under 
the protection of the batteries, he says, "In the 
evening, I was joined by the Amaranthe, who 
watched the brig during the night. At 8, a. m ., 
we perceived she had weighed. Captain Bren- 



16 MEMOIRS. 

ton, iii the most handsome maimer, volunteered 
to bring her out. (She was then towing and 
sweeping close in shore towards St. Pierre's.) 
The boats from the Circe and Stork, and men 
from the Express were sent to tow the Amaranthe 
up, who was at this time sweeping and using 
every exertion to close with the enemy. At 10, 
the French brig grounded near several batteries, 
to the northward of St. Pierre's. The Amaranthe 
tacked, and worked in, under a heavy fire from 
the batteries and brig, from which she suffered 
considerably, having one killed and five wounded, 
followed by the Circe, the rest of the squadron 
engaging to leeward. The Amaranthe's well- 
directed fire soon obliged them to quit the brig. 
Lieutenant Hay, of that Sloop, on this service 
distinguished himself very much, and speaks of 
the gallantry of Messrs. Brooke and Rigmaiden, 
of the same vessel, in very handsome terms, who 
with the boats of the Circe, Amaranthe, and 
Stork, boarded her under a heavy fire from the 
batteries and troops on shore. Lieutenant Hay, 
finding her bilged, and that it was impossible to 
get her off, effectually destroyed her in the even- 
ing. Captain Brenton again volunteered to de- 
stroy the schooner, then on shore. I ordered 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 17 

Lieutenant George Robinson, second of the 
Amaranthe, but acting first of the Circe, on this 
occasion to follow the directions of Captain Bren- 
ton. At nine o'clock, I had the pleasure to see 
the schooner on fire, and burnt to the water's 
edge. I am sorry to add, that, on this service, 
Mr. Jones, master of the Amaranthe, was 
wounded, and one seaman killed, and three 
wounded belonging to the Express. 

"The captains, officers, and men of the squad- 
ron you did me the honour to place under my 
command, behaved with that coolness and intre- 
pidity inherent in British seamen, particularly 
the Amaranthe, ichose gallant conduct was noticed 
by the whole squadron. From the troops of the 
Royal York Rangers, doing duty as marines, I 
received every assistance. Lieutenant Crooke, 
who commanded the boats, I am sorry to say, 
is severely wounded in four places. The loss of 
this gallant young man's services is severely felt 
on board the Circe. I am likewise sorry to add 
that Mr. Colman is among the number dan- 
gerously wounded. His conduct on this, and 
on other occasions deserves my warmest ap- 
probation. 

"The brig destroyed was La Cigne, of 18 guns, 
c 



18 MEMOIRS. 

and 140 men, with flour, guns, &c, for the relief 
of Martinique. The two schooners had likewise 
flour, and men armed. I have not yet learnt 
their force or names. I am happy to say the 
one left off the Pearl, is ashore, bilged.* 
(Signed) 

"F. Collier." 

Whilst in the Amaranthe, Captain Brenton 
was sent with a flag of truce into Martinique, 
where he made his first acquaintance with Ad- 
miral Vilaret, the Governor. The account of 
this visit will not be uninteresting. 

"When in command of the Amaranthe, I served 
in the squadron under Admiral Sir Alexander 
Cochrane, blockading the Island of Martinique, 
I was stationed with Commodore, now Admiral 
The Right Honourable Sir George Cockburn, 
in Fort Royal Bay. One of the squadron cap- 
tured a French vessel, which, coming from Mar- 
seilles, attempted to get into one of the ports of 
the Island. On board of her, there happened to 
be a large bag of letters for the settlers on the Is- 
land, and the commodore considered that it would 
be but an act of common humanity to forward 
* Gazette Letter. 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 19 

them to their destination. I was therefore ordered 
to hoist a flag of truce. I thought it a delight- 
ful break in the monotony of cruising, and lost 
no time in executing the orders I had received to 
deliver the letters. The weather was very fine, 
the water smooth, and as my brig sailed admi- 
rably, I soon got under the guns of fort Repub- 
lican, which stands on a point of land forming the 
caronage, or harbour, and defends the town of 
Port Royal. I wonder now they had not sunk 
me, which they could easily have done, for the 
French at that time were not much in the habit 
of respecting flags of truce. However, I hove 
too close under their guns, and taking the bag of 
letters in my boat, I landed at the town; but be- 
fore I had stepped out of the boat, I was accosted 
by a French officer, who was standing with many 
others on the beach: 'Sir,' said he, 'you have 
violated the flag of truce by coming under our 
fort with your guns and powder in.' I replied 
that I had merely obeyed the orders I had re- 
ceived from my superior officer, and that my 
apology was the bag of letters which I had the 
honour to offer him, they having been found on 
board our prize, and that the seals were unbroken. 
On hearing this, they seemed to be very much 



20 MEMOIRS. 

delighted, and M. Vilaret, the Governor, the 
officer who commanded the French fleet in the 
battle of the 1st June, 1794, said, ' Sir, I accept 
your flag of truce with many thanks. I hope 
you will do me the favour to dine with me.' I 
replied I could not have that honour, being a 
cruiser, bound to examine every strange vessel 
that might come in sight. He answered, that he 
would give me his word of honour that there were 
no strangers in sight, as he must know from the 
signal-posts on the mountains. I then consented, 
and he kindly said, 'Then, captain, you are my 
prisoner till sun-set,' and we walked away to- 
gether to the government house. 

" In the meantime the Governor, unknown 
to me, filled my boat with all the good things 
of the island, and desired my coxswain to 
return for me at the appointed time. The 
dinner was served at two o'clock, and was 
of the most sumptuous kind, and all the most 
distinguished men on the island were invited. 
In short, I was made very much of, as they 
said it was an act of such kind consideration 
in my commander to send them their letters. 
The good old admiral filled me a bumper of de- 
licious claret, and drank to our next meeting, 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 21 

which he hoped would be as friendly as the pre- 
sent one. The captain of a noble French frigate 
which was lying in the caronage, also drank to 
me, and said, that 'when we next met; there 
would be many hats to spare.' He alluded to 
the attack which he knew we were about to make 
on the island. Poor fellow, his was one of them. 
He was killed by one of our shells, but not before 
his frigate was set on fire and burnt. The din- 
ner, however, was ended as it begun, with the ut- 
most cordiality, and the party having escorted 
me to the boat, I took leave of my friendly and 
kind enemies. We shortly after attacked the 
island, and took it after much bloodshed, and the 
admiral and his staff came home prisoners in the 
ship I commanded. 

"Thus I formed a valuable acquaintance with 
a gallant officer, who was at that time the enemy 
of my country. He frequently came and sat in 
my little cabin on the quarter deck, and talked 
over the battle of the 1st of June. He always 
expressed the greatest esteem for the British 
character." 

Captain Brenton was appointed in March, 
1809, to command the Belleisle, of 74 guns. 

In this his first post ship, he had the honour 



22 MEMOIRS. 

and advantage of bearing the broad pendant of 
his steady friend Commodore Cockburn, now 
Admiral Sir George Cockburn; and he always 
looked' to this part of his professional life with 
peculiar satisfaction, as it procured him the un- 
abated regard of this distinguished officer and 
benevolent man, not only whilst they sailed 
together, but to the last day of his life, when 
they were associated in getting up an Institution 
for the benefit of shipwrecked mariners and 
fishermen, and which, by the great exertions of 
the gallant admiral has now obtained such a de- 
gree of prosperity and stability, as bids fair to 
give it a place amongst the first and best of those 
institutions which do so much honour to this 
country. 

The Commodore had been previously appointed 
to act as brigadier-general at the siege of Mar- 
tinique, and Captain Brenton to command a de- 
tachment of seamen employed in the batteries on 
shore. I shall give a very short account of this 
event, extracted from his naval history. 

As Pigeon Island commands the anchorage 
on Fort Royal Bay, it was resolved to begin by 
attempting to get possession of it. They had 
many and great difficulties to contend with. 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 23 

"The obstructions to our landing were numerous. 
The ruggedness of the rocks, and the fire of the 
enemy's battery on Pigeon Island on our boats 
as they opened the point of land between the 
fleet and that fort, gave us considerable annoy- 
ance. Two of the Pompee's men were killed by 
the bursting of a shell. A road was cut through 
a very thick wood on the top of Morne Vanier, 
which overhung Pigeon Island. A nine-inch 
hawser was next carried up, and secured to 
stumps of trees; and from the hawser tackles 
were attached to the guns. The sailors delight- 
ing in such work, ran down the hill with the 
tackle falls, as the guns flew up with almost in- 
credible velocity, notwithstanding the depth of 
the mud, the incessant rain, and the steep ac- 
clivity of the new cut road. 

"There is something indescribably animating to 
the mind of the British seamen, whenever they 
are ordered to land with a great gun. The no- 
velty of getting on shore, and the hopes of com- 
ing into action, give a degree of buoyancy to 
their spirits, which carries them to the highest 
pitch of enthusiasm. An hundred sailors at- 
tached by their canvas belts to a devil cart, 
with a long 24-pounder slung to its axletree, 



24 MEMOIRS. 

make one of the most amusing and delightful 
recollections of former days. On this occa- 
sion, when the Governor, the worthy and gal- 
lant Vilaret, was told how they were dragging 
the cannon along, he replied, 'It is all over 
with us!'" 

A general attack took place on the 19th Feb. 
and after a tremendous bombardment of five 
days, Vilaret capitulated, on condition that the 
garrison should be sent to France in British 
ships, and there exchanged for British subjects. 

After the reduction of that valuable colony, 
the French garrison was embarked on board the 
Belleisle, Ulysses, and seven transports; Com- 
modore Cockburn having the captain-general 
and all his staff on board the Belleisle, proceeded 
to Europe, agreeable to the terms of the capitu- 
lation. 

The French government endeavoured to ob- 
tain the garrison of Martinique, without com- 
plying with the conditions on which only they 
were to be restored, viz., in exchange for an 
equal number of British subjects; but we will 
give the detail in Captain Brenton's own words, 
who was present upon the occasion: 

" On the 23rd April the commodore anchored 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 25 

in Quiberon Bay, with the Ulysses and convoy: 
Colonel Boyer, chief of the staff taken on the 
island, was immediately sent with a letter from 
the captain-general to the Minister of the Ma- 
rine, and another from Commodore Cockburn to 
the same personage, stating the circumstances 
under which they had arrived. The boat which 
landed Colonel Boyer in the Morbihan, brought 
a note from him, stating that an officer was 
waiting there for the arrival of the prisoners, 
with full powers to treat for their exchange. 
The word " treat" was understood to conceal 
some chicanery, by which the enemy were to 
gain possession of these men, without returning 
ours. The capitulation of Martinique had been 
received in France previous to our arrival, 
or how should an officer be waiting for us with 
'full powers;' and had there been any honourable 
intention of fulfilling the treaty, an equal number 
of British prisoners would have been prepared 
to embark. Treating had ended at Martinique, 
before they laid down their arms. We must, 
therefore, relate one more instance of the false- 
hood of Napoleon. 

" M. Rodan, the commissioner, soon appeared, 
covered with silver lace and smiles. He ap- 



20 MEMOIRS. 

proached, and saluted the commodore ; after 
which lie pronounced some flattering eulogiums 
on the valour and generosity of England, parti- 
cularly of her navy, and did not fail to claim a 
large share of these qualities for the great Na- 
poleon and the French nation. So earnest was 
M. Rodan to begin the work of exchange, that 
he proposed immediately disembarking the pri- 
soners; but the commodore was in no such 
hurry. He observed to M. Rodan, that he 
would proceed up the bay, nearer to the town, 
for the purpose of more ready communication, 
and in the meantime the Ulysses should remain 
off Hedie with the transports. This was, of 
course, agreed to, under the stipulation also pro- 
vided by the commodore, that during any delay 
of the negotiation, the British and the prisoners 
should be supplied with such refreshments as 
they might require, after their long voyage and 
arduous services. 

" On the following day, the commissioner 
again appeared with a -joyful countenance: 
' Allons, M. le Commodore, tout est arrange.' 
e l am glad to hear of it/ said the commodore; 
' but where are the 2400 Englishmen in exchange 
for so many Frenchmen?' i Je les ai dans ma 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 27 

poche,' replied the flippant commissary. The 
commodore looked very grave, and returned no 
answer to this impertinent familiarity, whilst 
M. Rodan handed from his pocket a list of 3700 
Englishmen, whom, he pretended, had been 
liberated by French cruisers, observing, that the 
commodore would, no doubt, redeem the honour 
of his country by taking up these receipts, and 
then, with unparralleled effrontery, he added, 
' When M. le Commodore has put on shore the 
whole garrison of Martinique, he will still be in- 
debted to the French government 1300 men.' 
It is very easy to suppose the kind of answer 
given to this insolent Frenchman, who affected 
or perhaps felt some real surprize that his pro- 
posals were rejected. He entreated, however, 
that the commodore would wait the return of a 
courier from Paris. This was granted, and in 
the mean time a constant and vigilant guard was 
kept on the motions of the prisoners. At the 
end of four days, an answer arrived from the 
Minister of the Marine, repeating the former 
rejected proposals as a sine qua non, and M. 
Rodan intimated, that unless these terms were 
acceded to, all further communication with the 
shore should be interdicted. Turning with in- 



28 MEMOIRS. 

dignation from the agent of a government so 
faithless, the commodore ordered the signal to 
be made to weigh. It was instantly complied 
with; and as the squadron moved out of the 
bay, it was followed by numerous boats, in 
which were the wives, the parents, the children 
of many of the unhappy prisoners, in a state of 
grief which it would be vain to attempt to de- 
scribe. The poor men, afraid to trust each other, 
srTouted with ill dissembled joy, ( Vive Napoleon!' 
This was the magnanimous and humane Emperor 
who consigned his soldiers 'to the confinement of 
hideous pontoons,'* and separated them from all 
that renders life worth retaining. Look, after 
this, at the termination of his captivity, and say 
whether the decree of Providence was not 
founded in justice. 

" These brave fellows were the sad remains of 
eight thousand soldiers and sailors, who, within 
the six years then expired, had fought, and bled, 
and died, in the pestilential climate of the West 
Indies, for the love of the despot and the ad- 
vantage of their country. 

" The Belleisle and her convoy reached Spit- 
head early in May. The prisoners on board the 

* Dupin. 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 29 

transports made no efforts to rise and take the 
ships, though in numbers three hundred to four- 
teen Englishmen." 

This little narrative is recommended to the 
serious perusal of those who may have read the 
aspersions of M. Dupin. That able writer has 
accused us of treating our prisoners with cruelty. 
The author himself was a witness of the whole 
transaction, from the first shot being fired against 
the island of Martinique to the arrival of the 
Belleisle at Spithead. If there was rigour in 
our mode of treatment — if the French had cause 
to complain of a long captivity — whom had they 
to blame but their own Baal, the god of their 
idolatry? The garrison of Martinique was con- 
demned to five years' confinement in our pontons, 
or receptacles for prisoners.* 

We have already observed that Captain Bren- 
ton had been appointed, in March, to act as 
Captain of the Belleisle, by Admiral Cochrane; 
but it was not till his arrival at Spithead, in 
this ship, in the month of May, that he was 
made acquainted with his having been con- 
firmed as a captain by the Admiralty; and his 
commission, from which he was to take rank, 
* Brenton's "Naval History," Vol. iv. p. 377. 



30 MEMOIRS. 

dated on the day of his gallant action with the 
Cigne. 

In July, Captain Brenton was ordered to as- 
sume the temporary command of the Donegal, 
78, during the absence of Captain, afterwards 
Sir Pulteney Malcolm; and in this ship he con- 
veyed the Marquis Wellcsley to Cadiz, his lord- 
ship having been named Ambassador to the 
Supreme Junta of Seville. Captain Brenton 
says, "The ship arrived at Cadiz on the 1st 
of August, and as she let go her anchor, at nine 
o'clock in the morning, the batteries round the 
harbour, from St. Catalina to the light house, 
together with the guns and musketry of the 
shipping in the harbour, were celebrating, by 
continual discharges, the victory then recently 
obtained by the British army on the plains of 
Talavera. This coincidence was singular: the 
news of the event having just reached the city 
as the arrival of the British Ambassador was 
announced."* 

This first accession to the triumph of Sir 
Arthur Wellesley must indeed have been truly 
gratifying to his noble brother. 

* Naval History, Vol. iv. p. 343. 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 31 

Captain Brenton having returned to England 
with the Marquis, in the month of November, 
relinquished his temporary command, and re- 
mained on half-pay until April, 1810, when he 
was appointed to the Cyane, a small frigate of 
22 guns; and was sent with a convoy of India- 
men to the line. On his return, he was agree- 
ably surprised to learn that he was appointed to 
succeed his brother, who had been severely 
wounded in an action in the bay of Naples, in 
the command of the Spartan (a noble frigate of 
46 guns.) Mr. Yorke, then First Lord of the 
Admiralty, having communicated his intention 
of making this arrangement in the following- 
terms, so flattering to the feelings of both the 
brothers. 

"As it is possible that you will not be in a 
situation to rejoin the Spartan before she is ready 
for sea, I shall have a real pleasure in nominating 
your brother, Captain E. P. Brenton, to com- 
mand her, on his return from his present destina- 
tion; and I flatter myself such a successor will 
not be disagreeable to you. The ship will be in 
good hands. 

"I beg you will consider this as a testimony of 



32 MEMOIRS. 

the personal esteem and regard with which I have 
the honour to be, 

Sir, 
"Your most obedient and faithful servant, 

"C. Yorke.* 

"To Captain Brenton, 
H. M. S. Spartan." 

In the Spartan, Captain Brenton was for some 
time employed in cruizing on the coast of France, 
and in the following year was ordered to Halifax, 
under the command of Vice- Admiral Sawyer. 
Here he was very successful, having assisted at 
the capture of many American privateers and 
merchant vessels. In 1813, the Spartan having 
been found in want of much repairs, returned to 
England, and was paid off in September. With 
the command of the Spartan, ended the active 
services of Capt. E. P. Brenton, who remained 
on half-pay to the close of the war. In April, 
1815, he was appointed to command the Royal 
Sovereign, fitting for the flag of Rear- Admiral 
Sir Benjamin Hallowell. He shortly after fol- 
lowed his admiral into the Tonnant, of 80 guns ; 
but having no desire to serve during the peace, 

* Letter from Mr. Yorke to Captain Jahleel Brenton, dated 
21st August, 1810. 



PRIVATE LIFE. 33 

he resigned the command in November follow- 
ing, and never after served afloat. 

Having thus briefly related the professional 
services of Captain Brenton, we will proceed to 
the consideration of his private character, and 
habitual conduct in his intercourse with those 
around him. From his earliest infancy, he was 
remarkable for kindness and cheerfulness of dis- 
position, and a flow of spirits, which rendered 
his society peculiarly agreeable to all who were 
near him. His abilities were considerable, and 
he lost no opportunity of improving the few ad- 
vantages which were offered to him in vouth. 
During the whole time of his servitude in the 
navy — whether as midshipman, lieutenant, or 
captain — he was remarkable for his attention to 
his duty, and his diligence in acquiring infor- 
mation. He not only sought improvement for 
himself, but he was equally anxious to promote 
a similar spirit in all who were in subordination 
to him. As a lieutenant, his cabin and his books 
were always at the service of those young people 
who evinced any desire for improvement; and, 
as a captain, he was unremitting in his exertions 
to instil into all the youth placed under his care, 

D 



34 MEMOIRS. 

every kind of instruction the best adapted to in- 
sure their welfare and usefulness, as far as his 
own knowledge and ability would enable him. 
In every stage of his life, he was remarkable for 
energy of character, and zeal for the profession 
in which he had engaged — a degree of zeal, in- 
deed, which might sometimes manifest itself in 
apparent severity, when he saw it obviously 
wanting in others; and this may have led him, 
at times, to express himself with an unintentional 
harshness in conveying reprimands, or in writing, 
when he felt the advantage of the service or the 
good of his country were implicated. But, even 
with this admission, he was beloved by all who 
knew him ; his motives were seen and appre- 
ciated, and his character duly estimated. But it 
was not only to those immediately around him, 
connected by the ties of consanguinity or fel- 
lowship in service, that he felt and shewed re- 
gard and attachment. The feeling extended to 
every class of society, not only of his own 
country, but to the inhabitants of every part of 
the world, and especially to those upon whom 
adversity or the sufferings of penury pressed 
the hardest. We may say, that he most ear- 
nestly endeavoured in thought, word, and action, 



PRIVATE LIFE. 35 

not only to mitigate, but to prevent sufferings, 
whenever an opportunity occurred: his life during 
the whole period after leaving active service in 
1815, to his death in 1839, was one continued 
struggle in endeavouring to improve the situation 
of the working classes. We shall have abundant 
proofs of this in the extracts we are about to 
make from the papers he has left, and from his 
indefatigable labours in endeavouring to establish 
the Children's Friend Society, in which he suc- 
ceeded, in spite of every effort that prejudice 
and suspicion could exert against him. 

The day will come when the results of his 
labours will be fully known, and justice will be 
done to his memory. It will then be seen that 
he, as well as his most excellent and respectable 
colleagues, were actuated by the purest and most 
single-hearted motives. That they persevered 
against every discouragement and obstacle, thou- 
sands may yet bless their undertaking. The pa- 
rents of the forlorn and destitute child, impelled 
to crime by suffering and vicious example — the 
child himself, and the children's children — society 
at large will probably at length see and acknow- 
ledge the benefit conferred upon it — and the 
doubtful speculation of a few philanthropic indi- 



36 MEMOIRS. 

viduals, will at length, we trust, grow into a great 
national system, for the prevention of crime, and 
a provision for the industrious poor. 

Every society which was formed for the im- 
provement or the comfort of mankind, had his 
heartiest concurrence. When, in 1819, our 
destitute seamen were exposed to the most se- 
vere degree of suffering in an inclement winter, 
he joined his efforts to those of his brother offi- 
cers, in devising means for their relief, and was 
eminently useful. The Temperance Societies 
met with his most energetic support, as may be 
seen by the evidence which he gave before the 
Committee of the House of Commons, and by 
his constant attendance at the meetings. The 
Society for the Relief of Shipwrecked Mariners 
and Fishermen, he also took up with great 
ardour, so much so indeed that to it may be at- 
tributed the immediate cause of his death. 

That he felt severely the malignant reports 
respecting the Children's Friend Society, which 
were so greedily caught up and commented upon 
in some of the public papers about this time, 
and which unhappily received the too ready 
sanction of a respectable magistrate on the bench, 
is undoubtedlv true, and was the source of much 



PRIVATE LIFE. 37 

occasional discomfort; but I have no doubt tbat 
the death of my lamented brother was accele- 
rated by his denying himself that repose of body 
and mind which the state of his health so im- 
peratively required. 

Suffering, as he had long done, from severe 
and frequently-recurring attacks of gout, he 
continued to the last to devote his earliest and 
latest hours to the cause of humanity. He was 
frequently out of his bed at six o'clock on a 
winter's morning, and diligently employed at 
his desk, in the cause of the poor, until the 
breakfast hour ; after which, his house was 
generally beset by applicants for charity or 
other assistance. He has often been known to 
leave an employment in which he was deeply 
engaged, in order to attend to the request of 
a petitioner entirely unknown to him, and 
would accompany him to a public office or to 
a magistrate, as the case might require, in order 
to substantiate or to forward his claim. . There 
were many instances in which his benevolent 
heart was highly gratified by the success of the 
application, and the real merit of the individual 
thus befriended ; but, unfortunately, there were 
others of a different description, where the sub- 

d2 



38 MEMOIRS. 

ject proved to be a rank impostor. Such de- 
ceptions led him to feel the impolicy of giving 
money to street beggars, unless steps were at 
the same time taken to investigate their state- 
ments, and to procure for them a more effectual 
description of relief. This feeling will occasion- 
ally manifest itself in much of the correspond- 
ence we shall have to lay before the reader. 

When, at the conclusion of the war, the sub- 
ject of these memoirs retired from active service 
at sea, he devoted himself with the most invin- 
cible perseverance, during the remainder of his 
life, not only to devising the means for improv- 
ing the situation of the youthful poor, to pro- 
moting their temporal and eternal welfare, and 
making them good and useful servants to the 
state, but to ameliorate the conditions of the sea- 
faring part of our population. This was a most 
important object with him. He looked forward 
to its being the means at some distant day of 
enabling the legislature to dispense with the 
lamentable system of impressment. The work- 
ings of his mind upon this subject were incessant. 
Plan after plan was continually presenting itself, 
and abandoned as hopeless. He at length came 
to the conclusion, that if this most desirable end 
could ever be attained,, it must be by preparing 



PRIVATE LIFE. 39 

the children of the working classes by early- 
habits of industry and sobriety, and a religious 
education, for a profession in which they might 
really become the sinews of the empire. He 
may have been, and perhaps he was too sanguine 
in his expectations of the immediate benefit to be 
derived from the proposed adoption of his system, 
but it was undoubtedly based upon moral and 
religious principles, and consistent with the 
soundest policy. 

It is not however so much with an intention 
to vindicate the measures which my brother 
suggested, that these observations are made, as 
to describe his character, and to shew how inde- 
fatigably and undeviatingly his life was devoted 
to the good of his country, and to that of his fel- 
low-creatures. This merit may be confidently 
claimed for him, and will be, indeed has been 
readily conceded by those who were adverse to 
his opinions. The greater portion of the letters 
which relate to this part of the subject, and which 
will be found in the following pages, have already 
appeared in the daily newspapers, but mixed up 
as they necessarily were with the news of the 
day, and other more immediately interesting 
matter, they were not likely to meet with much 
attention; and it is but justice to the memory of 



40 MEMOIRS. 

the writer of them that they should occupy a 
place in his memoirs in a connected form, that 
his exertions should be duly appreciated. 

Few have been more indefatigable in their 
exertions, or have borne up against greater dis- 
couragement, than the subject of these memoirs; 
but he kept his object stedfastly in view, and was 
not to be set aside from his purpose by any con- 
sideration of personal inconvenience, or the ridi- 
cule he might meet with from those who differed 
with him in opinion, and would not appreciate 
his motives. 

Where he thought an appeal might be made 
with any hope of success, he unhesitatingly of- 
fered it; and it will be seen that he acquired in 
this way the assistance of some of the most in- 
fluential and exemplary of the higher orders of 
society; whilst we believe, we may safely add, 
that he gave offence to none: a convincing proof 
that he was acquitted of all selfish or arrogant 
intentions. The manner in which the Children's 
Friend Society was patronised, its public meet- 
ings attended, and the contributions made in its 
behalf, affords farther testimony that the oppo- 
sition it has met with arose more from party 
feelings than any conviction of real unsoundness 
in its principles. Gloomy as the prospect of 



PRIVATE LIFE. 41 

this institution may be at this moment — an in- 
stitution which the benevolent founder had so 
deeply at heart, and which was the subject of 
his most earnest prayers and ardent wishes — we 
have little doubt but that a blessing will yet rest 
upon it. The enquiry to which the charges 
brought against it have led, and their complete 
refutation, will inevitably restore it to that place 
in the public estimation which was for a moment 
endangered by the most atrocious falsehoods, 
thoughtlessly taken up by those whose opinions 
might naturally be expected to have great in- 
fluence. The plan will, we trust, upon farther 
experiment, be found to be at once benevolent 
and practical, and to this hope we cheerfully 
consign it. 

I have found, amongst my brother's papers, 
numerous memoranda upon various subjects, 
chiefly professional, and many quires evidently 
written for the instruction of youth, particularly 
those destined for the sea-service. The obser- 
vations contained in the latter are mostly de- 
rived from his own experience in early life, in 
which he has recorded the workings of his own 
mind, as a warning against youthful errors and 
false impressions. It was evidently his intention 
to have published them, and certainly many va- 



42 MEMOIRS. 

luable lessons might have been derived from them. 

In whatever the subject of these momoirs en- 
gaged his thoughts, lie had a constant reference 
to the Divine assistance for success. This may 
well account for the energy and perseverance 
with which he followed up his object; which he 
might have hesitated to have done, even when 
seeking the welfare of his fellow-creatures, had 
he only contemplated his own unassisted abili- 
ties : he derived strength and confidence from 
a never-failing source. 

But with regard to that most important part 
of every human character, the religious part, the 
reader will draw his own conclusion from the 
various extracts I propose to give from my bro- 
ther's diary. It will, I trust, thence appear to 
have been the governing motive of his whole 
life, as it was a source of comfort, happiness, and 
support to him in his last hour. 

This diary was confined to the latter years of 
his life. I find none previous to 1836. 

I believe that he had long been in the habit 
of writing down his reflections, but have met 
with no other memoranda of the kind. In these, 
however, it will be seen that he was ever mind- 
ful of the power and goodness and the wisdom of 
God, and placed his sole dependance upon it, 



PRIVATE LIFE. 43 

under every circumstance of life. He was par- 
ticularly earnest in his thanksgivings for mercies 
received either by his own family or by those 
connected with him, as will appear by the fer- 
vent prayers he so continually offered up for 
them. But, especially, he most earnestly im- 
plored that sovereign aid for the schools and the 
children to whose cause he devoted the last years 
of his life. We trust that our readers will not 
object to our transcribing liberally from this 
diary, with regard to this particular subject, as 
it will place his exertions in the light in which 
they ought to be seen, and convince the most 
fastidious that his motives were entirely free 
from any selfish or worldly feelings, and that his 
sole object was the temporal and eternal welfare 
of so large a portion of his fellow-creatures. 

In contemplating the character of my brother, 
as displayed by his sentiments and conduct in 
the last years of his life, I can trace the origin of 
these thoughts and habits to a very early period. 
His heart was, from infancy, kind, compassionate, 
and generous, and he manifested a very strong 
feeling of pity and indignation when he saw 
misery or oppression. To these youthful im- 
pressions may be traced his activity and energy 
at a more advanced period, to relieve and protect 



44 MEMOIRS. 

the sufferer. Every case of real distress seemed 
to absorb his whole attention, and excite his ut- 
most efforts to remove the cause, especially if the 
afflicted were children. Numberless are the in- 
stances in which he came forward in behalf of 
these little victims. He never could be induced 
to view them as criminal, however depraved their 
habits, or immoral their conduct. He always at- 
tributed their faults to those by whom they had 
been neglected or corrupted, and could never be 
persuaded that the case was hopeless until effort 
after effort had been made in vain to reclaim 
them, nor would he even then despair whilst 
youth remained. Hence his persevering efforts 
on behalf of juvenile vagrants of all descriptions, 
and his horror at the system pursued of sending 
children to prison to be completely corrupted 
and depraved by the society and example of full- 
grown felons. To the case of the young chim- 
ney-sweeps, or climbing boys, he devoted the 
utmost energy of mind and body. He was truly 
indefatigable in their behalf; and, on the day 
which preceded his death, directed and sent out 
above one thousand circulars, with a view of 
procuring the adoption of a better system. 

It is an undoubted maxim, that there is much 
real happiness derived from the very effort to do 



ENERGY OF CHARACTER. 45 

good, however unsuccessful it may be, and I 
feel convinced that Captain Brenton experienced 
this truth in a very eminent degree for many of 
the last years of his life. He appeared to live 
but for this purpose; all his time and all his 
thoughts were devoted to it. To the opposition, 
the sarcasm, and the ridicule he met with, he was 
invulnerable. He pursued his way steadily in 
the conviction that some good would result from 
his labours. He did not look to his own efforts, 
or to those of the excellent and the benevolent 
men with whom he was associated, but he looked 
to a power which he knew to be irresistible, and 
which he felt was engaged in the cause to which 
he devoted himself; and however gloomy the pros- 
pect may at this moment appear from the disso- 
lution of the society of which he was the honoured 
founder, sure we may be, that a blessing will rest 
upon it — that out of the numbers which were 
rescued by its means from wretchedness and 
misery, some will come forward and offer such 
prominent and such incontestable proofs of the 
value of such an institution, that others will start 
up, and ultimately more than fulfil the most san- 
guine expectation that the warmest advocates 
for the Childrens' Friend Society had ever in- 
dulged in. 



46 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPKESSION OF 

The object which arrested Captain Brenton's 
attention, on his retirement from active service 
afloat, was the fearful amount of juvenile delin- 
quency in the metropolis, and the extent of crime 
to which children were led by those who had 
grown up, and some indeed grown grey in suc- 
cessful and accomplished villainy. The more he 
investigated this subject, the more awful did the 
state of this numerous and abandoned portion of 
the community appear to him. In seeking for 
the source of these evils, scenes were opened to 
him of which few can form any idea: children, 
the greater part under twelve years of age, con- 
gregating together under acknowledged leaders, 
frequently but little older than themselves, with- 
out any dwelling, or any means of support but 
what they derived in preying upon the public. 
Their usual haunts were under the dry arches 
of the bridges, or in desolate and untenanted 
houses. From these lurking places they con- 
tinually sallied forth, and carried on the most 
successful schemes of plunder. When detected, 
and committed to prison, the only effect pro- 
duced was a farther initiation into the arts of 
iniquity; and they derived, from the instruction 
given to them by the full-grown felons with 



JUVENILE DELINQUENCY. 47 

whom they had been associated, a degree of 
dexterity and cunning which, when liberated 
from a temporary restraint, enabled them to set 
the laws at defiance, with the greater assurance 
of impunity. He discovered, also, that the num- 
ber of these wretched little beings was greatly 
increased by the manner in which orphans, or 
other destitute children, were apprenticed out to 
characters of every description, who, as soon as 
they had received the expected fee, drove the 
unhappy child from their dwellings by every act 
of cruelty and iniquity which could be devised. 
Captain Brenton's mind had long dwelt upon this 
fearful state of things, uncertain where to find 
or how to apply a remedy, when he was roused 
to active exertions by a circumstance of which 
he met with a detail in the public prints; but let 
us hear him describe this case in his own words. 
He says — 

"In the year 1827, or thereabout, I read in the 
newspapers, an account of a woman named Hib- 
ner, a tambour worker, who, it appeared, had 
murdered two of her little female apprentices. 
These unhappy children were poor orphan parish 
girls of St. Pancras. She had six of them bound 
to her, and the testimony of the survivors, cor- 



48 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

roborated by indisputable evidence, exposed to 
the public a scene of tyranny and cruelty which, 
I will venture to say, was never exceeded in the 
worst of our slave colonies. 

"As my mind had for many years previously to 
this event been turned to the helpless and fallen 
condition of the children of the poor, I was par- 
ticularly struck with this fresh instance of bar- 
barity, and I immediately made myself acquainted 
with the process of binding parish apprentices, 
the motives of the guardians of the poor in get- 
ting rid of them, as well as those of the generality 
of tradesmen who 'apply for them. These poor 
children are generally orphans, or worse than 
orphans, having corrupt and drunken parents, 
whose pernicious example, and neglect of duty 
destroys the morals, while their bodily frame is 
emaciated, and their constitutions ruined, by want 
of proper food and clothing. The workhouse 
doors are usually thrown open to such objects as 
these, provided they can prove their settlement, 
which is too frequently very difficult, and in this 
case the child is left to its own resources, either 
to beg, or to starve, or to steal. We will, how- 
ever, suppose that the wretched orphan gains its 
settlement, and is admitted to the workhouse 



JUVENILE DELINQUENCY. 49 

school. Its prospects in life, are little, if any 
thing improved. A defective and often inhu- 
man system has never yet produced any good 
fruits, and the child, if it obtains relief from cold 
and hunger, has nothing to boast of, in point of 
education and moral training, above the street 
beggar. It has rarely fallen to my lot to witness 
the application of a respectable tradesman for an 
apprentice out of the workhouse. They are 
usually needy people, greedy only for the pre- 
mium of four or five pounds; and this sum is 
often given to take the child away from the 
parish books, as soon as the little victim has 
gone through a probation of five or six weeks, 
and a pro forma enquiry has been made into the 
character of the applicant. The probationary 
weeks are a sort of honeymoon, during which 
the children are kindly treated, in order that 
they may express the same before the guardians 
when the indentures are given and the money 
paid; but after this, I fear the conduct of the 
master or mistress too often undergoes a very 
material change. I have known many instances 
of the child having been starved, beaten, or 
driven from the house by cruel treatment; and 

E 



50 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

on enquiry we have learned that the receiver of 
the premium has gone into the Gazette." 

Impressed with such conviction of the deplor- 
able state of so large a portion of the juvenile 
part of the working classes in London, Captain 
Brenton, with a few active and benevolent friends, 
set to work, and after the most unwearied exer- 
tions were enabled, in 1830, to begin an Institu- 
tion, under the title of, "A Society for the 
Suppression of Juvenile Vagrancy." These 
excellent men, whose names should always be 
associated with that of the subject of these me- 
moirs, must excuse my inserting them here. I 
should neglect an obvious, a positive duty in 
withholding them. They were J. F. Maubert, 
D. Haes, R. Ricardo, Henry Wood, A. Borra- 
daile, and J. M. White, Esqrs., all well known 
for their active benevolence, and their characters 
such as might have been a sufficient pledge that 
none of the charges which were so industriously 
and so malignantly brought against the Society 
could have had any foundation. 

The Society was formed with a view of train- 
ing poor and destitute or partially depraved 
children, to such habits as would fit them for 
useful service in this country. The first experi- 



JUVENILE DELINQUENCY. 51 

merit was made at West Ham Abbeyy near Bow, 
in Essex, in 1830, where twenty boys, "whose 
forlorn and neglected condition," says the Report, 
"gave them a just claim on the compassion and 
benevolence of a Christian public," were received. 
In 1833, the establishment was removed to 
Hackney Wick, and named by the members of 
the Institution, the "Brenton Juvenile Asylum," 
as a testimony of their feeling towards Captain 
Brenton; and soon after the Society adopted for 
their own designation that of the "Children's 
Friend Society." In 1834, Her Most Gracious 
Majesty, then Princess Victoria, and Her Royal 
Highness the Duchess of Kent, graciously con- 
descended to become the general patronesses of 
the Society. An asylum for female children 
was opened at Chiswick, and, by permission, 
named the "Royal Victoria Asylum." Such is 
the origin of the Children's Friend Society as 
it exists at present.* 

The few observations we are about to make 
respecting this truly philanthropic Institution 
will, we trust, enable us successfully to repel 

* We lament to say, that since this was written the benevolent 
managers of the Society have been under the necessity of dissolv- 
ing it for want of funds. 



52 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

and refute every malignant charge which has 
been made against it, and which to such an 
extraordinary degree met with encouragement 
from men in authority and from writers of 
acknowledged talent, as would be utterly un- 
accountable, were not a solution found in the 
spirit of party, and most particularly in that 
warfare so pertinaciously carried on between 
the approvers and opponents of the late and 
present poor law system. Here, we are well 
convinced, we have found the real cause of the 
opposition, we may rather say, of the persecution, 
this excellent Society has met with, which un- 
doubtedly did inflict much pain upon the mind 
of its truly benevolent and Christian founder, 
but which he endured with cheerful resignation, 
in the conscientious feeling that it was unmerited. 

As an introduction to the account of what the 
Society has already effected by their exertions, 
we will make a short extract from its history, 
contained in a little work published by Captain 
Brenton, called "The Bible and Spade." 

"It is four years since the Society relinquished 
the school at West Ham, and hired the premises 
we now occupy at Hackney Wick, where we 
have good accommodation for two hundred boys, 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 53 

a capital house for the master, with ten acres of 
land: the whole of this is cultivated and kept in 
order by the pupils, of whom we have had one 
hundred and fifty at one time. The first year of 
our occupation, the produce of the land was not 
more than thirty pounds; the second year, this 
sum was more than doubled. The produce of 
this land in former years was, probably, not a 
twentieth part of this, as to human subsistence, as 
it is very poor land, and the improving fertility 
has arisen from the well-managed appropriation 
of that redundant labour and economy of manure 
which had hitherto been either unemployed, or 
used in the destruction of property and putre- 
faction of the air in wretched abodes. What- 
ever, then, the pecuniary advantages may appear, 
they are nothing when compared to the moral 
effect produced on the minds and habits of the 
children, who, coming as it were, wild from the 
hot beds of vice and lawless indulgence, are 
rapidly brought into habits of order, regularity, 
and obedience, and this without the agency of 
any other means than kindness and firmness. 
We have no whips nor rods, although we have 
had many unruly spirits to deal with. Each boy 
freely gives his own personal labour and indivi- 



54 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

dual exertions to the well being of the general 
hive. Our object, as far as human prudence can 
guide us, is the harmony with the Holy Scrip- 
tures and the divine command, "Suffer little 
children to come unto me." 

The earliest notice I have been able to find of 
the commencement of Captain Brenton's efforts 
in behalf of the Society for the Suppression of 
Juvenile Vagrancy is from the " Morning He- 
rald," of the 14th March, 1830. He had, I 
believe, been long before the public in his ad- 
dresses upon the subject, nor did he appeal in 
vain. 

" It is not a little extraordinary, that at a 
moment when, by the indefatigable exertions of 
Captain Brenton, a society has been established 
for the purpose of clearing the streets of unem- 
ployed children, who swell the daily catalogue 
of juvenile offenders, and when the Colonial 
Secretary has been induced to aid in trans- 
ferring a number of these children to the Cape 
of Good Hope, the Home Department should 
persist in maintaining at home a constant nur- 
sery for thieves, in the abominable hulk system. 
In addition to the crowd of adult convicts, who, 
after having been sentenced to transportation, 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 55 

are kept at home to do the work of honest men, 
and are, in fact, better fed than the soldiers who 
guard them, there are at this time on board the 
Euryalus, convict hulk, at Chatham, 407 boys, 
between the ages of nine and sixteen years. 
With the exception that, like Sterne's starling, 
'they cannot get out,' these boys are better 
clothed, better fed, and in all other respects 
happier and better off than nine-tenths of the 
children of industrious parents throughout the 
kingdom. Nor would this be so much to be 
regretted, were it not equally the fact, that not- 
withstanding all the pains which we doubt not 
are taken to bring them up in the paths of 
honesty and virtue, the very locale, the very 
congregation in one point of so many juvenile 
depredators renders every effort of the kind, as 
a whole, impossible. And the result, therefore, 
is, that while a few individuals, aided to a slight 
degree by one department of the Government, 
are endeavouring to rescue children from de- 
struction, and society from their depredations, 
another and more important department is ac- 
tually countenancing distinct nurseries of crime, 
with a recklessness which would seem to assume 
that it is necessary for the maintenance of our 



56 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

criminal and judicial establishments that, like 
our anatomical schools, they should be constantly 
supplied with subjects. 

" We trust that some Member of Parliament 
will cause an inquiry to be instituted into the 
continuance of this demoralising system. The 
non-transportation of offenders, after they have 
been sentenced to undergo that punishment, is, 
we understand, justified on the score of expense. 
But this is the most mistaken, ' penny-wise' 
argument that can be employed. It, doubtless, 
is very true that the first expense of shipping 
off a convict to New South Wales is greater 
than his maintenance for the period of the 
voyage on board the hulks. But is it so in the 
end ? or ought it, even if it were to be allowed, 
to stand in competition with the injury inflicted 
both on society and the individual, by the latter 
being detained at home, and, in fact, trained up 
in the same vicious courses which have already 
brought him in contact with the offended laws 
of his country? And, above all things, is it 
wise, just, or reasonable, that the country should 
be at the expense of expatriating the most va- 
luable part of its population, while its criminal 
transports are allowed to be such only in name ? 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 57 

We pause for any defence of any thing so in- 
congruous." 

The first public letter I can find of Captain 
Brenton's is the following, addressed to the 
Editor of the "Morning Post." It is truly gra- 
tifying to reflect upon the liberal aid he received 
from so many of the editors of our most respect- 
able daily newspapers, who readily devoted their 
columns to the insertion of his letters, and to their 
admirable remarks upon the subject of them. I 
feel that I am only doing justice to them, to my 
departed brother, and to our country, in thus 
collecting and publishing in a connected form, a 
series of suggestions and reflections which have 
arisen from so pure and so benevolent a source, 
and for such an invaluable object. 

" To the Editor of the Morning Post. 
" Sir — I am exceedingly thankful to you for 
inserting my letter of the 21st inst. in your paper 
of to-day, and with your permission I will con- 
tinue the subject, which, as I before observed, is 
unhappily inexhaustible. That there is no want 
of kindly feeling among the rich towards their 
poorer brethren in this country no one, I think, 
will deny; at the same time it is evident that 



58 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

nothing is more difficult than to give a strong and 
effective direction to this feeling, so as to promote 
any permanent good among the labouring classes. 
The metaphor of a ship of war embayed in a gale 
of wind on a lee shore is almost threadbare ; but 
the parallel between such a situation at sea and 
the present state of the British Islands is so for- 
cibly impressed on the mind, that it is quite im- 
possible to separate them. And is nothing to be 
done? Are we to stand with our arms folded, 
and see the ship go to pieces, each one flattering 
himself that he shall be able to reach the land on 
some shattered portion of the wreck? Or shall 
we, like stout-hearted true-blooded Englishmen, 
face the danger and disarm the storm? 

"While the Legislature is debating on the 
momentous question of Reform, the people are 
looking for its adoption as a cure for all their 
temporal ills. Of the merits or expediency of 
such a measure I have nothing to say. I see 
crime and misery increase, and I ask if there be 
any cure, any palliative, for such complicated 
evils? I contend that there are; that they are 
within our grasp ; that we have only to stretch 
forth our hands and seize them. The scourge 
from heaven, the cholera morbus, has reached 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 59 

our shores, and seems to me as if sent in mercy 
to rouse us from our torpor, not to thin our po- 
pulation, which has been blasphemously called 
' redundant,' but to teach us the value of man to 
man — the reciprocal and mutual dependence of 
the rich on the poor. Should this desolating 
pestilence pass over our islands as it has done 
through the Continent of India, what would then 
become of our 'redundant population?' The 
disease seems to fix its fangs at present in the 
lowly dwelling of poverty; the poor raise their 
despairing eyes to heaven, and stretch forth their 
emaciated hands to their richer and more fortu- 
nate brethren. Under the blessing of Provi- 
dence much has been done; but let us not faint, 
for much remains to do; the abodes of vice and 
poverty and filth must be visited, cleansed, puri- 
fied, and relieved. The dense inmates of the 
small dwellings must be skilfully and kindly 
separated, and planted out into more wholesome 
locations; agriculture must take place of manu- 
factures to a certain degree; food must be pro- 
duced more abundantly by manual labour ; the 
desert must be made to smile; and the poor man, 
instead of being shut up in a gaol as a poacher, 
will be the best guardian of the game. This is 



60 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

no Utopian theory ; it is an axiom at once simple 
and practicable; nothing is required but the will, 
and 6 where there is a will there is always a way.' 
Let every parish (even of the metropolis) take 
its 50 acres; let us set out all the unemployed to 
work; let the good be rewarded, the bad re- 
jected; let the honest man have his half acre and 
his cottage and his pig, and let the vagabond who 
will not work be sent to coercive labour in our 
harbours and rivers; let our streets and alleys 
and sewers be cleansed of all their filth, and let 
it be converted into manure to enrich the fields. 
By these means mutual exertion will produce 
mutual good; the agriculturalist will have food 
to give to the manufacturer; the latter will find 
the former in clothing, and the whole will become 
good and loyal subjects. Let us not fear a re- 
dundancy of people, nor a rise in the price of 
labour; if the farmer gives 14s. a week instead 
of 9s., he will have no poor rates to pay, and the 
superior cultivation of his land will enable him 
to give his tithes ungrudgingly; all this may be 
done without any legislative enactment; the 
poors' rate, as at present levied, is more than 
sufficient for the purpose, and in two years we 
shall see a wonderful change in the face of the 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 61 

country. Finally, the bitterest enemies of this 
or any other land are those who endeavour to de- 
cry the Scriptures, to vilify the clergy, and to 
sow hatred and discord among the people. The 
best friends of the poor are those who will stand 
by them in sickness and in health, and who fear- 
lessly do their duty to God and their neighbours. 
"Edward Pelham Brenton. 

"Dec. 26, 1831." 

It will be observed in the following letter, that 
all the subjects to which it successively alludes, 
are immediately connected with the interests of 
the poorer classes. That not only their suffer- 
ings form the great object of the writer's solici- 
tude, but that he considers their vices to grow 
out of the state of degradation in which they 
are placed. If the strictures upon absenteeism 
appear hackneyed or common-place, so will all 
other arguments in support of the same cause, 
for all have been urged to repletion; but as long 
as the cause exists, the efforts to remove it must 
be repeated. A remedy may at length be sug- 
gested to those who may have it in their power 
to apply it. 

The observations with which this letter con- 
cludes are most striking, and certainly borne out 



62 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

by facts. We have frequently seen the ragged 
and destitute sailor in vain imploring to be ad- 
mitted in the service, but rejected from that very 
state of destitution and wretchedness, whilst the 
convict has been in the enjoyment of food, shel- 
ter and clothing. 

" To the Editor of the Morning Post. 

"Sir, — Not having the honour of being per- 
sonally known to any of his Majesty's Ministers, 
and having found from experience that the letters 
and representations of a stranger are coldly re- 
ceived and barely acknowledged, if acknowledged 
at all, however important the matter, or however 
self-evident the proposition, it only remains for 
a humble individual like myself to lay my opinions 
before the public. If they are worth any thing, 
they will in some shape or other receive the at- 
tention they deserve; or if they do not, I shall, 
at least, have the satisfaction of knowing that I 
have done my duty. 

"It has always appeared to me that own former 
Parliaments have ' stuck at a gnat and swallowed 
a camel;' that while the Poor Laws and their 
concomitant evils have been almost unheeded, the 
precious time of the Senate, night after night, 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 63 

has been wasted over the trumpery and indecent 
details of a divorce case, or in the passing of pri- 
vate Inclosure Bills, which still more limited and 
curtailed the resources of the peasantry, expel- 
ling them from their commons, depriving them 
of their honest and healthy means of subsistence, 
and obliging them to seek refuge in the large 
towns, where, between the pawnbroker and the 
gin-shop, they very soon become inmates of a 
workhouse, or outcasts of society. Had we ta- 
ken as much care to protect our poor as we have 
to protect our game, the former had been happy, 
and the latter more abundant. The proceedings 
of the Suffolk Agricultural Meeting are an ho- 
nour to the country, and to human nature. May 
its spirit be spread over the land, until every 
labouring man finds a friend and a brother in his 
richer neighbour; and may the landlord find in 
every peasant a faithful gamekeeper, and a zeal- 
ous defender of his property. 

"While I admit the vices and the crimes of 
the poor, I fear that in too many instances they 
have arisen out of their sufferings; in others, 
their sufferings have been produced by their 
vices; but while gin is easy to be procured, while 
the poor are huddled together in suffocating 



64 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

rooms in large towns, and the open country 
is abandoned, we may hourly look for a dreadful 
increase, but we can have no rational hope of a 
diminution either of their crimes or their miseries. 

"I have long thought that some of the great- 
est causes of distress are to be found in absentee- 
ism, in the want of a due regulation of our Poor 
Laws, and the establishment of legal provision 
for the poor in Ireland, in emigration, and in our 
convict system. On these four heads, to which 
I shall at present confine myself, I will with your 
leave make a few observations. 

"It has been reported to me, but I will not 
vouch for the fact, though I am much inclined to 
believe it, that the sum of eight millions annu- 
ally is spent by our absentees. If this be true to 
the extent of only one half, it is quite sufficient 
to account for the low price of labour, and the 
sufferings and discontent of that valuable class of 
society; and I contend that absentees should be 
taxed unmercifully — that no person holding an 
income from the government should be allowed 
to spend it out of the country. If all absentees 
were compelled to return home, the price of la- 
bour would immediately rise — a proposition too 
clear to require elucidation. If they would not 



JUVENILE DELINQUENCY. Q5 

return they should be compelled to pay a heavy 
contribution towards the support of the state. 

"That a system of parochial relief should be 
established in Ireland, no one, who has common 
sense or common humanity can deny; but while 
this should only extend to the helpless, a proper 
and liberal plan for supporting the labourer must 
be devised. This can only be done by allot- 
ments of land; there is land enough, and to spare; 
when it is covered with tillage it will be time to 
think of emigration. I have often heard of ( burn- 
ings,' but I never heard of any thing so bar- 
barous, cruel, and selfish as that which took place 
on the estate of an Irish nobleman, about two 
years ago, when some poor people were burnt 
out by order of the landlord. 

"I will not stop to ask whether this hard- 
hearted man had law on his side; I conclude he 
had, or else I should have had the satisfaction 
of hearing that he was hanged; but I will tell 
him that, if man does not, God will call him to a 
severe account for this. Nor can that country 
ever hope to be tranquil or prosperous where 
such deeds are done and tolerated. The act was 
at once cruel and silly ; the land itself was of lit- 
tle value, and not likely to be of much more when 



66 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

man was driven from its surface. Had these 
poor people been placed upon it with long leases, 
and a condition that they should grow corn as 
well as potatoes, and keep pigs and cows, how 
much would the value of the estate have been en- 
hanced, and how happy would the people have 
been? After the above statement, which I read, 
I think, in the ' Morning Post,' and which was 
never contradicted, I am never surprised at any 
thing I hear from Ireland, and I warn the landed 
proprietors of that country to look more to the 
comforts of their peasantry, in which they will 
find their truest interest. Their revenue should 
be spent among the hardy race whose labour pro- 
duced it, not squandered in France and Italy 
among buffoons and fiddlers. Such absentees 
should be taxed even to confiscation. Why 
should the industrious rate-payers of England be 
compelled to support the Irish labourer, while the 
money which ought to support him is spent in a 
foreign country? Why should the English la- 
bourer be undersold in the market, because the 
Irish labourer is not provided for at home? If 
there be a union indeed between the two coun- 
tries, why are not the laws more nearly assimi- 
lated, and the balance of labour restored to an 
equilibrium. There is a nobleman (noble only 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 67 

by title) who, to my certain knowledge, has lived 
in Paris for the last sixteen years, and whose 
estates in this country and in Ireland are said to 
be of enormous value. If such a man was so for- 
tunate as to escape the arm of justice, should not 
his property be taxed? Why should the pea- 
santry on his estates starve while the produce of 
their labour is spent in the Champs Elysees. 

"Emigration is the next evil of which I com- 
plain. I find by the Canadian Reports that 
70,000 people arrived out from this kingdom 
during the last season. Had these been actual 
paupers, or people who had been hangers-on of 
the workhouses, we might have borne their ab- 
sence with equanimity; but they were not so. 
They were mostly enterprising and industrious, 
and must have taken away with them at least 
half a million of money — a dead loss to the coun- 
try, while the farmer, the manufacturer, and the 
state, have lost all the benefit of their annual ex- 
penditure. This is political economy with a ven- 
geance. This is what I pointed out to Sir 
Robert Wilmot Horton last year; and, thanks to 
the Emigration Committee, this is what will be 
constantly repeated until all the industrious la- 
bourers have left the land and universal pauper- 
ism shall prevail. 



68 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

"My letter is already too long, but you must 
pardon me for saying a few words on the convict 
system. This pernicious practice has long been 
the subject of my thoughts, and I have in every 
way held it up to public reprobation as one of 
the most ingenious devices of the devil for mak- 
ing converts to vice, and completely corrupting 
the manners of the labouring classes. Rogues, 
felons, and vagabonds are employed in peace, 
plenty and comfort in our dock-yards and 
arsenals, well fed, well clothed, well housed; 
their wives and children, if they have any, sent 
to the parish; while the honest poor man is sigh- 
ing for that labour and that bread which is only 
to be given to atrocious crime. I have laid a 
statement of this case before those who have the 
power to apply a remedy, and I will never cease 
to call the public attention to this shameful prac- 
tice until it is done away. Talk of the decline 
and fall of empires! I maintain that no history 
of any nation can produce a more fatally livid 
mark of pestilence in its constitution than the 
convict system of Great Britain. 
"I am, Sir, 
"Your most obedient servant, 

"Edward Pelham Brenton. 

"Dec. 30, 1831." 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 69 

The following letter to the Right Hon. Lord 
Kenyon, on the impolicy of the workhouse sys- 
tem, and its pernicious effects on the manners 
and habits of the poor, has already gone through 
the press, and has been widely circulated; but it 
is too important a document to be omitted in 
this place, and will be highly useful in shewing 
how strenuous were the exertions of the writer 
in his advocacy for the suffering poor. 

" My Lord, — Public men, like your lordship, 
who devote their time and their talents to the 
alleviation of the sufferings of their fellow- 
creatures, must expect to be addressed as I now 
take the liberty of addressing you : the subject 
is of vital importance, and I feel assured that 
you will give it all the attention it deserves. 

" To provide for the necessities of our fel- 
low-creatures is admitted to be a fundamental 
principle in all civilized governments, — that 
the helpless poor should be taken care of, and 
treated with kindness and attention, is also con- 
formable to the Scriptures ; and whatever may 
have been the result, I am proud to say that 
there has been no want of good-will and gene- 
rosity in this country, evinced by the opulent 
towards their less fortunate neighbours. Still 



70 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

it is mortifying to reflect, that notwithstanding 
all the laws, from the reign of Henry VII. down 
to our time, which have been made in favour of 
the poor, we find their numbers, their vices, 
and their miseries, constantly increasing ; and 
although the contributions under the name of 
poor's-rates alone amount to the sum of eight 
millions and upwards yearly, and private charity 
to as much more, still there is no country which 
I have visited where there is so much privation 
and wretchedness as in this, excepting only un- 
happy Ireland. I know of no poor laws on the 
Continent, yet the poor are better off than they 
are here ; and I will shew more real misery in 
one hour, in Marylebone, St. Giles's, White- 
chapel, Spitalfields, or Paddington, than can be 
shewn in six months in the West Indies, from 
Trinidad to Jamaica. But here we have our 
workhouses, our jails, our penitentiaries, our 
tread-mills, our convict system, and our prison 
discipline, and yet we go on from bad to worse ; 
may we not then reasonably conclude that the 
system is false — that it does not work — that it 
has never produced any good result — and that 
the sooner it is changed the better. 

" Ever since I became acquainted with work- 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 71 

houses, I have been their uncompromising 
enemy : 

"1. As being fraught with the very germ and 
essence of all moral depravity — the University 
of Vice — the hive from whence the vagrants 
swarm in summer, and to which they resort in 
winter, after having squandered their earnings 
in debauchery, careless of the future, because 
they are sure of food and lodging during the 
inclement season. 

" 2. Because they confound virtue and vice ; 
the virtuous object, driven within its walls by 
the inscrutable decrees of Providence, is herded 
with the most depraved, at the same table, and 
perhaps in the same bed. 

"3. Because they afford relief to the idle and 
the vicious. They encourage parents to spend 
their earnings in gin, leaving their children to 
beg, without removing them from the haunts of 
infamy. 

"4. Because they too often relieve the poor with 
money, which is spent in gin; a gin-shop near a 
workhouse always bearing a higher premium on 
lease than those at greater distance. 

"5. Because the workhouses, particularly in 
the metropolis, occupy valuable ground, which 



72 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

might be lot, and produce as much revenue as 
would pay for the hire of good land, on which 
the poor might be maintained in comfort for ever; 
and because they fill the metropolis, and all large 
towns with an undue number of paupers, thereby 
encouraging beggary and sedition, destroying 
industry, and defeating the best intentions, and 
the only means of relieving them by agricultural 
labour. 

"6. Because the offscourings and refuse, or 
manure, instead of being spread over the surface 
of the land, as the wise and beneficent Author 
of nature intended, to reproduce food, are allowed 
to drain into our river, to pollute our water, and 
to corrupt the air. 

"7. Because high walls are built round these 
receptacles of misery, shutting out in a great 
measure the winds of heaven, and producing on 
the inmates the confinement of a prison, without 
any imputed crime; whereas, if they were placed 
in the country, all, or nearly all, restriction would 
be done away with as useless and unnecessary. 

"8. Because the manufactories carried on 
within the workhouses must injure the industri- 
ous tradesman, exactly in the same proportion 
that they are profitable to the establishment. 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 73 

The poor mechanic, having rent and taxes to pay, 
can never compete with those who pay none, and 
who work with a capital not their own: conse- 
quently the poor's-rate tends to keep down the 
price of labour. 

"9. Because the labour of the workhouse is 
not agricultural, of which there is not enough 
performed in the country, and is mechanical, of 
which there is too much. And 

"10. Because the education of the boys is 
corrupt, expensive, and mischievous in its results. 

"It would, I conceive, be a waste of time to 
prove these propositions: nevertheless, if proof 
be required, I am ready to produce it. Let us 
in the meantime consider if some other plan 
might not be substituted to relieve the poor, and 
to make them more happy and more industrious; 
to enable them to enjoy the fruits of their own 
labour; to rescue them from the crowded man- 
sions of disease and crime, and to place them, 
with the capital which is now used for their de- 
struction, where they will become useful to them- 
selves and to their country. 

"It is admitted, by statistical authors, that we 
have, at least, fifteen millions of acres of im- 
provable land: this land, at present, yields little 



74 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

or no revenue to its owners, simply because the 
presence and labour of man is wanted to make 
it profitable. If, then, a workhouse of a populous 
parish were fixed on some wide extended waste, 
or improvable land, or on good land, it is fair to 
suppose that the annual expenditure of such an 
establishment, though great at first, would gra- 
dually diminish, like an inverted cone, until it 
ended in a point. One thing is certain, that in 
no case could it be so expensive or so injurious 
in its consequences as at present. If a large 
draft were made from the parish of St. Maryle- 
bone to a district ten or fifteen miles off, there 
would be better employment for those who re- 
mained; while those who went would be, at least, 
free from the ravages of disease, or temptation 
to the vice of drunkenness. This of itself would 
be an immense gain; but the habits of cleanliness 
and industry would so improve the condition of 
these people, that they would, in all human pro- 
bability, never revert to their former state. 

"I admit, that a change of system so extensive 
requires much and very mature consideration. I 
do not wish to press it hastily on the public, 
although I am thoroughly convinced, that if the 
experiment were once made, it would very soon 
be universally adopted. 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 75 

"The plan proposed is simple, and not difficult 
of application, A tract of land, consisting of 
from fifty to five hundred acres, should either be 
immediately taken, or an option of occupancy 
secured. On this land a suitable residence should 
be built for a governor, surgeon, apothecary, 
chaplain, and other officers. A bailiff should be 
appointed to attend to the farming concerns, and 
ten constables. The governor should be an 
officer, either naval or military, not exceeding 
forty-five years of age; his salary, in lieu of his 
half-pay, should be £300 per annum, which 
would be a saving to the government; the other 
officers should be paid and established in the 
same proportion; the medical men should always 
reside on the spot. The next object would be to 
build alms-houses and cottages for the reception 
of the deserving poor, and for labourers, with a 
certain portion of land attached to each; and the 
rent of the latter should be paid by labour, which 
is the poor man's money : if he can produce more 
labour than is required for this purpose, the 
overplus should be carried to his credit, until it 
amounted to as much as would purchase the 
freehold; or, in a few words, I would follow the 
plan which has been so successful in Holland, 



76 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

where the poor vagrants, removed from the 
scenes of idleness and temptation, have acquired 
property, and become reputable members of 
society. 

"I have often listened with horror to the 
hateful objection set forth by some political 
economist, viz., 'that the poor, if made comfort- 
able, would increase too fast!!!' Dare any man 
publicly avow this cruel, this selfish, this mur- 
derous and atheistical proposition? I will tell 
him, that he is confuted by common sense, com- 
mon experience, and well-known facts ; but, 
were it true as it is false, have not the poor as 
good a right to live as the rich ? Is the order 
of Nature to be counteracted for the pleasure of 
the few and the destruction of the many ? for 
if these reasoners mean any thing, this is what 
they do mean : away, then with such atrocity — 
let us do our duty, and leave the event to Pro- 
vidence. 

" Females may be employed in agriculture as 
well as males : we see this practised on the 
Continent of Europe. And while our manu- 
factories and our shops reject these dependent 
creatures, let us stand between them and ruin, 
by holding out that manly protection, which, as 



JUVENILE DELINQUENCY. 77 

men and as Britains, they have a right to expect 
from us. £100,000 expended in sending 8,000 or 
10,000 of these unhappy women to the Colonies, 
would be well laid out ; there they are wanted, 
and would be useful; here they are a burthen 
to themselves, and to their country. This is the 
only species of emigration which I would admit 
of, and this only to a limited extent ; we could 
find occupation for the others at home. 

" Our ancestors very wisely placed their work- 
houses far away from towns; but, in our days, 
the growth of cities has surrounded and walled 
them in, depriving the inmates of their health- 
giving fields; the land which the workhouses 
now occupy, has increased in value one-hundred 
fold; then why not remove them to another sta- 
tion, where the poor might enjoy their air and 
exercise. A rural asylum so placed would not 
require all that expensive establishment of of- 
ficers and attendants, which costs in the parish 
of St. Marylebone about £5,000 per annum. 
There would be no need of coercion or restraint 
— few would have recourse to it but the really 
distressed, and none that were not disposed to 
work: the boys, instead of being mewed up 
within brick-walls, would expand their lungs, 



78 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

and strengthen their limbs, by manly exercise 
and labour; while their morals would escape the 
inevitable contagion of the metropolis. If they 
thought proper to absent themselves, it should 
be at their own cost and peril, but there would 
no longer be any pretence for begging, when re- 
fuge would be provided for all. Labour should 
be performed by task : — emulation would then be 
excited, and merit would be sure of its reward. 

"We have not a sufficient number of alms- 
houses in England. There are a number of de- 
serving people, particularly among servants of 
both sexes, who, late in life, are driven to great 
distress ; these people, when compelled to take 
refuge in a workhouse, feel it as the keenest 
calamity, and they die broken-hearted. 

"Infirmaries should be as much on the skirts 
of the town as possible — that of St. Marylebone 
should be in St. John's Wood. 

"It will be necessary to say a few words on 
the recent Act of William IV. cap. 59, which I 
shall call 'the Fifty Acre Act,' because it was 
intended to empower large parishes to take that 
quantity of waste land whereon to employ their 
supernumerary hands; before this Act was passed, 
parishes were restricted to twenty acres. This 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 79 

extension I hailed as the dawning of some good 
feeling towards the poor; but when, by desire of 
the Guardians of St. Marylebone, I applied to 
Lord Melbourne, to know where and upon what 
terms we could have our fifty acres, I was re- 
ferred to the Office of Woods and Forests: the 
following is an extract of the answer : — 

a 'That the Board have not considered the 
Act of the 1st and 2nd of William the IVth, 
cap. 59, to extend to any parish except such as 
the waste land applied for, should be situated in 
or near to, and that it appears that the powers of 
this Act would not be applicable to the parish 
of St. Marylebone.' Admitting this construc- 
tion, (which I do not) then the Act is a mere 
nullity, and a disgrace to the Statute Book; for 
if it cannot relieve the metropolitan parishes, 
what use can it be of to parishes surrounded with 
waste land, which always had the power and 
never required permission to use it? but I con- 
tend that the undefinable and relative term 
c near to/ may be stretched or contracted ad libi- 
tum to one foot or one hundred miles. 

"These suggestions are submitted to your 
lordship as the active and zealous friend to the 
rural population. The greedy enclosure of waste 



80 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

lands, owing to the high price of corn during the 
war, had the effect of driving the poor from their 
commons, and forcing them to seek shelter in 
manufactories and workhouses. Thus the popu- 
lation is gathered into unwholesome heaps, to the 
manifest injury of the people and the land. The 
constitutions of the children are destroyed by 
over-work, bad air, and insufficient food; while 
their moral and religious habits, if they ever had 
any, are soon contaminated and destroyed by 
corrupt associations. The dense masses of Man- 
chester, Birmingham, and Spitalfields must be 
thinned out, and spread over the neglected 
country, before disease and famine shall have 
done their fatal work. The Mendicity. Society 
must cease its pernicious labours, and, as I told 
them two years ago, employ their money by find- 
ing work for the poor out of town, instead of in- 
ducing them to seek a precarious and ruinous 
trade in a crowded city. Vestries and guar- 
dians of the poor must no longer pay their la- 
bourers from the poor's rates — a practice alike 
ruinous and disgraceful; the price of labour must 
be raised by the application of the capital of the 
poor's rate to agriculture, and not lowered, by 
adding to manufactures already overstocked. It 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 81 

is notorious that the misapplication of the rates 
tends to keep down the price of labour, and 
there are many farmers and landowners (not dis- 
cerning their true interests) who wish to have it 
so: such a system, if not speedily counteracted, 
will ultimately destroy all property. To attempt 
to relieve the poor by emigration is insulting and 
cruel, and also contrary to every principle of jus- 
tice and sound policy. All the shipping of the 
empire could not convey out of the country in 
three years as many people as would afford relief 
to the pretended redundancy — and if they could 
be conveyed away, we should soon see the em- 
pire die of exhaustion, instead of plethora, land 
uncultivated, and shops unlet. 

"The Labourer's Friend Society, of which 
your lordship is so generous a patron, will do 
more to forward the real permanent interests of 
the poor, and of the empire at large, than all the 
Emigration Committees that ever sat. Give the 
poor man his land and his spade — his industry 
will soon produce the rest: he will become a 
payer instead of a receiver of rates. The face of 
the country will be changed; the price of labour 
will rise, and the price of land will rise, and the 
rich and the poor will all be better off than they 



82 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

arc now. The manufacturer will sell more goods; 
the farmer will sell more corn and meat; the 
merchant will sell more tea, and sugar, and coffee, 
and soap, and candles; in short every thing will 
find a market but gin and brandy. 

"Mr. Thomas Wright, of Plumstead, has con- 
stantly acted on this plan: he has raised the price 
of labour, and gives employment to a vast num- 
ber of people who would otherwise have been on 
the parish. Your lordship at our last meeting 
furnished us with an account equally encourag- 
ing from your own estates, where you reported 
that in a population of 2,500, only one man was 
out of work. The Bishop of Bath and Wells on 
the same occasion favoured us with another re- 
port to the same effect — proving, that wherever 
the poor had been placed on their half or three 
quarter acre, they had ceased from that time to 
ask parochial relief. 

"It is not intended by this plan to supersede 
the authority of the guardians and directors of 
the poor, or to make the poor chargeable to other 
parishes; their attendance at their respective 
establishments will be provided for; but as the 
governor will be a highly responsible person, it 
is presumed that the presence of the guardians 
will not be so much required. 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 83 

"Finally, if we would restore the rural popu- 
lation, and that of the kingdom generally, to the 
sound state of moral and religious feeling, from 
which they have unhappily fallen, we must pro- 
vide for them in a different manner to what we 
have hitherto done. The disturbance in the 
workhouse of St. Marylebone on Saturday night 
last, the 7th instant, confirms much, if not the 
whole of my objections to such establishments, 
and forcibly points to the necessity of sending 
these unhappy girls to the colonies, where they 
all wish to go: but under any circumstances, no 
plan can be so fatal to public happiness and in- 
dustry, as locating the poor among the mechanics 
who cannot find work for themselves. Every 
person out of work should therefore be sent to 
agricultural labour. 

"I have the honour to be, with great respect, 
"My Lord, 
"Your Lordship's most obedient servant, 

"Edward Pelham Brenton. 

"April 9th, 1832." 

The reader will, we are certain, receive with 
indulgence the following effusions of a sanguine 
mind, devoted to a favourite subject, and that 
subject no less than the welfare of thousands of 



84 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

the writer's fellow-creatures and fellow-country- 
men : he expressed himself warmly, as he felt, 
when deeply interested. Nor will the earnest 
appeal contained in the next letter be read un- 
moved. 

" To the Editor of the Morning Post. 
" Sir, — Referring to the advertisement sent 
herewith in the first page of your journal, rela- 
tive to the Society for the Suppression of Ju- 
venile Vagrancy, will you allow me to call the 
public attention to it? Should it be followed 
up with that care on the part of the Committee, 
and that bounty on the part of the public, which 
it so eminently deserves, it may at no distant 
period be the means, under the blessing of Pro- 
vidence, of changing the manners and so totally 
altering and improving the condition of the la- 
bouring classes, as to render them the happiest 
and the best people on the face of the earth. 
Let us look to it ; undismayed by the lowering 
of the political atmosphere, or the neglect of my 
complaints in every department of the Govern- 
ment, I confidently and fearlessly appeal to the 
British public. They will not, I am certain, 
allow these poor children to be again turned 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 85 

out into the streets — on the contrary, they will 
hasten, by paying in their 5s. subscriptions, to 
enable the society to receive many more of the 
numerous candidates for admission within its 
walls. To the want of agricultural education 
for the children of the poor, and the inattention 
of the guardians and select vestries to these lo- 
cations in the field, may justly be attributed 
almost all our present ills — cholera, drunken- 
ness, starvation, beggary, theft, misery. I have 
often warned the public of the fatal tendency of 
this culpable apathy. Our soldiers, our sailors, 
and our peasantry are daily becoming more cor- 
rupt, and losing sight of that love of country, for 
which the Swiss are so remarkable, and which is 
the best safeguard of the state. I cannot occupy 
your useful paper with a long letter, but you 
will, I am sure, kindly insert the following fact, 
by way of illustration; it very lately occurred: 

" A little boy, thirteen years of age, of remark- 
able talent, applied to the Marine Society to be 
received on board of their ship ; he was rejected 
because his height did not come up to the stan- 
dard — he fell into bad company, was taken up 
with his companion who had stolen something 
from a shop, and sentenced to seven years trans- 
portation ! ! ! The unhappy boy, as soon as he 



86 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

knew his fate, wrote an excellent letter to his 
distracted mother (I wish I could obtain the 
letter, but I cannot); he offers her all the con- 
solation in his power, assures her he had no in- 
tention of committing a crime, that he had long 
sought in vain for employment, and now that he 
was to leave her he hoped that he should make 
amends by his future conduct for her past suf- 
ferings on his account. 

" This poor boy has been lost by our neglect, 
and thousands of others will follow his example. 
" I am, sir, your obedient servant, 

"Edward Pelham Brenton. 

"Aug. 23, 1832." 

" To the Editor of the Morning Post. 
« S IE , — Woe be to that land where the children 
of the poor cry in vain for bread and for shelter : 
such is their state at this moment in England, 
and more particularly in London. Long, long 
have I pleaded their cause, but how few, alas ! 
will pay any attention. The House of Correc- 
tion in Coldbath Fields has within its walls some 
hundreds of children and young people, whose 
offences are mostly trivial, and grew out of want 
and idleness. Many poor little boys are shut up 
among thieves for robbing orchards and fruit gar- 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 87 

dens ! There is scarcely a member of the House 
of Commons who did not do as much when he 
was young. One of our best officers in the navy, 
as gallant a fellow as ever trod a deck, always 
robbed his schoolmaster's fruit Avail, and told him 
he would do it, because he once punished him 
unjustly. Had he been sent to Coldbath Fields 
for it, he would now have been a convict instead 
of an ornament to the service, which he is. But 
we are trying all we can to drive the infant poor 
to vice and crime, to eradicate a sense of shame 
from their bosoms, then call .them thieves and 
vagabonds, whip them, imprison them, and then 
turn them out better prepared to elude justice, 
and to commit crimes of increased magnitude, in 
proportion to the severity with which they have 
been treated. Shall we wonder that with such a 
system crimes increase? We hang, without re- 
morse, the hapless mother who, under the pres- 
sure of want, strangles her new-born babe; but 
her humanity is greater than ours, who let the 
poor children die of want, or convert them to 
criminals by neglect. I first undertook the cause 
of these helpless creatures when that miserable 
woman, Hibner, was hanged for starving and 
beating her apprentices, two of whom died under 



88 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

her cruel hands. Your fine-spun theorists prate 
about West India cruelty; let them look at 
home. We murder our children body and soul 
in this country, by neglect, starvation, and cruelty. 
In the West Indies, the children of the slaves are 
treated with the same kindness as those of the 
family; and whether in French, English, or 
Dutch settlements, I have never seen so much 
misery in six months in that country as I can 
shew you in ten minutes in this. I am perfectly 
at a loss to know why I am not supported by the 
government, and by the magistrates in quarter 
sessions. It is certain that the children in Cold- 
bath Fields cost the country, one with another, 
nearly a shilling a day to keep them in that house, 
and to employ them in picking oakum! How is 
a young creature to earn its bread with such an 
education? I offer to make them happy, healthy, 
virtuous, and loyal, for half the money; aye, and 
to make them maintain themselves too; but very 
few listen to me. Some say very wisely, what 
is to become of them when they are educated? 
I say, what is to become of them when they are 
not? Look at your gaols at this moment; look at 
your calendar; that answers my question; and if 
you look at our little Asylum at West Ham, the 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 89 

other question is much better answered. Our 
poor boys are reclaimed and happy, without po- 
lice, or iron bar, or flogging. One of the parishes, 
rather than pay the cost of a child's keep at our 
school, threatened to take him away and set him 
to stone-breaking ; but the boy declared that if 
they did so he would instantly commit a felony 
and be transported! Can you blame him? Con- 
victs are better off than honest labourers, though 
it costs double the money to keep a thief to what 
it would for an honest man! All I ask of the 
government is, a ship to lay at Woolwich, and 
twenty acres of land near the water side, with a 
certain allowance for each child. I will, in re- 
turn, promise never to let a boy go to prison 
under sixteen years of age; and for the poor girls, 
there are plenty of places, such as the Green- 
wich School, Chelsea School, and the House of 
Occupation, where they might be protected and 
educated before they became thieves and pros- 
titutes; and if that were not enough, I would 
also have a ship for them to lay off Woolwich, 
and have them trained to such work as would 
make them useful in our colonies, where they are 
much wanted. Oh, England! England! how blind 
to your own interests! Oh, ye check-population 



00 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

philosophers, what have you got to answer for? 
Read my letter to the king, and you will see.* 
"Edward Pelham Brenton. 

"Oct. 5, 1832." 

" To the Editor of the Morning Post, and the 
Editors of all the really benevolent and patriotic 
Newspapers in the United Kingdom. 
"Gentlemen, — I have often appealed through 
your kindness to the British public, and never 
appealed in vain, in behalf of the destitute chil- 
dren of the poor. Their numbers and their 
extreme misery cannot, I should think, fail to 
meet the eye and to excite the compassion of any 
person of common feeling. The success which 
I have met with, and the support which a nu- 
merous and respectable list of subscribers to the 
Juvenile Vagrancy Society have afforded me, 
while they stimulate to further exertion, shew 
the urgent necessity of it. Each day presents 
more numerous and more distressed objects than 
the preceding one; and many a hapless mother 
and weeping boy am I compelled to dismiss from 
my door, and resign to despair and to ruin, for 
want of the means of supporting them in our 
Agricultural Asylum at West Ham. That such 

* This letter has not been found. 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 91 

an Institution should have enemies and detractors, 
is not surprising. It is only human, and has but 
slender means of achieving all the good which is 
proposed. We are accused of having misapplied 
the funds placed at our disposal. We answer, 
that those who gave us the money meant and in- 
tended that it should be used exactly in the way 
in which we have used it. We have expended, 
in round numbers, one thousand pounds. We 
have received sixty-two boys; fifty of them are 
now in the house. We dare assert, in the face 
of our anonymous assailants, that the experiment 
has infinitely exceeded our most sanguine expec- 
tations. These poor boys, who were mostly of 
the very worst class of society, as destitute of 
clothing for the body, as of food and morals, are 
now ' clothed and in their right minds.' 

"The establishment is formed, the principle 
has been proved to be good to answer my pur- 
pose, and only requires extension to make it both 
cheap and efficacious in relieving the wants and 
improving the condition of the poor. My hum- 
ble endeavours in the cause of the unhappy 
children have lately been noticed and warmly 
supported by a numerous and most respectable 
body of tradesmen, and I have every reason to 



92 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

think, that my plans of employing them in agri- 
cultural labour will shortly be adopted as a 
parochial measure, and by a more agreeable, as 
well as a more profitable means of subsistence, 
gradually diminish the poor-rates, remove the 
workhouses from the metropolis, decrease the 
number of offences, and render the poor the in- 
struments of their own happiness. The capital 
which is now locked up will be used with quad- 
rupled profit and advantage in the cultivating 
and improving the face of the country. Two 
hundred millions, which furnish at four per cent, 
eight millions of poor rates, making the miserable 
more wretched, will be spread out, and cover the 
empire with abundance; and the rise in the price 
of land and labour, simultaneously with a treble 
demand for and a reduction in the price of food 
and clothing, will furnish a practical demonstra- 
tion of the great truths that man is intended to 
be the best friend, and not the enemy, of his 
neighbour; 'that in the multitude of the people 
is the king's honour;' that every human being 
capable of labour can maintain himself; and, in 
spite of all that the check-population philosopher 
may say to the contrary, that there is not a man 
too many in the country. Christmas approaches, 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 93 

the season of cheerfulness to some; to others 
(and, alas ! to how many) of want, of sorrow, 
and of misery. Two years ago, a few benevo- 
lent ladies, by a penny subscription, raised one 
thousand Jive hundred pounds. What blessings 
would such a sum enable us to confer on hun- 
dreds of houseless and friendless boys, the sons 
of men who have fought and bled for their 
country. 

"Edward Pelham Brenton. 

" Dec. 6, 1832." 

The above letter contains an appeal, which, 
we think, could scarcely be resisted by such as 
have paid any serious attention to the state of 
our suffering poor. With regard to adults in 
distress, it is feared, in many instances, that their 
misery is the result of crime; and some appre- 
hension may be justly entertained as to the 
efficacy of the relief we may feel disposed to 
bestow. That it may be thrown away upon a 
worthless object, is too probable; but a suffering 
child must be viewed in a very different light. 
Here an evident case of unavoidable wretched- 
ness presents itself, attributable only to the class 
of society in which it had the misfortune to be 
born. Every effort to relieve such an object, 



94 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

and to rescue it from its degradation, is a positive 
duty, for the neglect of which no subterfuge can 
be found. This relief is not to be effected by- 
giving money, which, in all probability, would 
only tend to pamper the parent in vice, and to 
accelerate the ruin of the child; but by such 
effectual means as are here proposed, by which 
we may not only save a fellow creature from de- 
struction, but a fellow-subject to our country — 
not only a human being from misery and death, 
but a fellow-mortal from everlasting destruction. 
The calculations may be vague, and the amount 
of benefit exaggerated, but much positive good 
must ensue, and the divine blessing obtained on 
the land when such efforts are made. 

The following letter to the Editor of the 
"Morning Herald," dated the 19th of August, 
1833, when receiving the intelligence of the ar- 
rival of the first division of the youthful emi- 
grants at the Cape of Good Hope, shew how 
much the benevolent writer had the success of 
the great undertaking at heart; and had his 
wishes been responded to, at the very low rate 
of subscription for which he pleaded, how ex- 
tensively would the blessing of the Children's 
Friend Institution have been felt, not only at 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 95 

home, but in our colonies. The acknowledg- 
ments he made to his warm and liberal friends, 
the Editors of the "Morning Herald/' were 
justly due, and sincerely paid. 

"Mr. Editor, — The Society above-named 
owes much of its success to you, and I trust you 
will continue the kindness which has now enabled 
us to occupy some share of the public attention. 

"The first division of our poor boys reached the 
Cape of Good Hope in the month of May. 
They were most welcomely received, and the 
whole of them immediately provided with good 
masters, who agreed to relieve us the expense of 
their voyage and outfit. The demand for them 
is likely to increase with the supply, so that there 
is no occasion for a child to go to prison, or com- 
mit a felony for the sake of finding food and 
lodging, and if good people, instead of giving 
their half-pence to beggars in the streets would 
give us 5s. a year — a little more than one penny 
per week, we would save them some pounds, be- 
sides emptying the prisons and leaving the work- 
houses for the reception of poor women and 
young helpless girls, who are too frequently 
driven to crime for want of a home. 



96 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

"We have taken 212 boys out of the streets, 
and we will take as many thousands, if the pub- 
lic will support us. We ask only 5s. a year from 
each housekeeper, and we entreat those who 
have the means, to go and look at 'The Brenton 
Asylum/ at Hackney Wick. They will find 
forty poor boys who have exchanged idleness, 
crime, and poverty, for cheerfulness, labour, 
moral and religious instruction, and a comfort- 
able home. Give us but the means, and every 
child in the empire shall be equally protected. 

"I am told that the Society for the Suppres- 
sion of Juvenile Vagrancy would be more en- 
couraged if it were better known. What can we 
do more than appeal to the Press, and circu- 
late our reports in every part of the metropolis, 
and even send them to the most distant parts of 
the empire? It is the intention of the Society 
to send out female children to the colonies as 
soon as we can find the means. The Cape of 
Good Hope has demanded 200 little girls be- 
tween the ages of 10 and 12 years, and yet there 
are thousands even at that age daily coming to 
destruction in this great city. 
"I am, Sir, 
"Your most obliged and obedient servant, 

"Edward Pelham Brenton." 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 97 

The sentiments expressed in the letter which 
follows, will neither surprise nor offend the warm- 
est advocate for the education of the poor, sup- 
ported as they are by arguments shewing the 
indisputable necessity of giving to youth the 
means of employment, and every incentive to 
honest industry. The literary instruction given 
to the children at Hackney Wick, was confined 
to one part of the day, while the other was de- 
voted to the field and garden. It was truly de- 
lightful to behold the cheerful countenances of 
the boys, whilst engaged either within or without 
doors ; and we felt a conviction that this cheer- 
fulness was sincere, as well as general, and could 
not be put on before the visitor. We could only 
wonder at the change a few weeks or a few days 
even had made in the habits and feelings of chil- 
dren, who had in all probability been involved 
from infancy in misery and degradation. 

" To the Editor of the Morning Post. 
"Sir — I return you many thanks for having 
inserted my last week's letter in your valuable 
paper of Monday. The subject is one of vital 
importance, whether it be considered in a naval, 
military, or agricultural point of view. If we 

H 



98 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

want good sailors, . or soldiers, or servants, or 
agricultural labourers, they must be trained for 
those employments, and they cannot be put in 
harness too young. The misfortune of our sys- 
tem is, that we teach reading and writing; but 
these accomplishments have in general only a 
mischievous tendency, inasmuch as they are not 
accompanied with any manual labour, and it is 
evident that, unless we can increase the quantity 
of food in the country by the application of la- 
bour, we shall, by giving instruction, only teach 
the poor to be still more discontented than they 
are. 

" The Asylum established at Hackney Wick for 
the Suppression of Juvenile Vagrancy keeps this 
principle steadily in view. We have there forty 
poor boys, who are taught their duty to God and 
their neighbour. Their habits of early depravity 
are generally overcome by kindness and constant 
employment, blended with rational amusement 
and religious instruction. The respectable peo- 
ple at Hackney Wick were alarmed when we 
first formed our establishment, lest we should 
bring among them a set of little ruffians, who 
would pillage their gardens; but they have since 
confessed that our boys are perfectly inoffensive, 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 91) 

and I believe when at church there is no set of 
children in better order. When we consider 
what these children have been, this is a very sur- 
prising change, and yet we have no other pun- 
ishment than occasional privation of animal food, 
and sometimes a few hours of solitary confinement. 

"The village boys at first insulted them, and 
called them 'slaves/ and 'white negroes/ because 
they worked in the field, but our little fellows 
very soon convinced them that neither their 
moral or physical powers were impaired by their 
new mode of life; since that the village harmony 
has been undisturbed. We have no fear of the 
boys wanting employment; only let the Press 
support us, and we will very soon clear out the 
prisons and leave the workhouses for poor women 
and children. 

"If you and your benevolent brother editors 
will only favour me with a small corner once a 
week in your journals, I will save your pockets 
from being picked, reduce your poor's rates, and, 
I hope, put a few gin-shops out of commission. 

"I remain, Sir, 
"With great respect, your obedient servant, 

"Edward Pelham Brenton. 

" August 16, 1833." 



100 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OP 

In the following appeal to the Press for a con- 
tinuance of its truly liberal and valuable assist- 
ance, there are some very remarkable and striking 
suggestions — but they will speak for themselves, 
and have their due share of influence upon the 
public mind. Much indeed is to be done, by 
means apparently insignificant. Unity of pur- 
pose, with the smallest pecuniary sacrifice in pro- 
portion to the means of the giver, will do great 
things; and if every person who really feels an 
interest in the poor destitute child, will but bring 
over one more to think and feel and to act as he 
does, the end will be attained far beyond the 
extensively benevolent views of the benevolent 
writer of this letter, sanguine even as he was. 

" To the Editor of the Times. 
" Sir — As the most open-hearted benevolence 
is the characteristic of all the respectable papers 
of the empire, I am sure that very little solicita- 
tion will be sufficient to induce you to insert in 
your widely-extended journal an appeal to the 
public in favour of the poor destitute boys ; who 
are, to the number of many thousands, either 
starving in want, or thieving to gain a subsistence 
in the metropolis. It is vain to say that these 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 101 

poor children may be maintained in the work- 
house; if they are able or willing to enter such 
an asylum, they leave it worse in morals than 
they entered, or go from thence to the house of 
correction — to worse associates — to harsh treat- 
ment — to hopeless ruin. The new system on 
which the Society for the Suppression of Juve- 
nile Vagrancy has acted with so much success, is 
one of kindness and conciliation — labour, blended 
with rational amusement, and moral and religious 
instruction. By these means we do flatter our- 
selves that we have already reclaimed some boys, 
whose inveterate bad habits had set at defiance 
any species of prison discipline and severity. 
The true use of learning is, to acquire and to 
spread knowledge for the good of those who can- 
not obtain it by other means — to teach a poor 
creature how to live honestly in this world, and 
to fit himself for the next. For this purpose, 
the Press is the great machine, the choicest gift 
of heaven to benighted man; without this, we 
should still be involved in the darkness and bar- 
barity of the middle ages; and although in too 
many instances a bad use is made of this power- 
ful weapon, it is the duty of the honest and well 
disposed to counteract that evil by disseminating 



102 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

the best principles — by inculcating habits of tem- 
perance, order, obedience to the laws, cleanliness, 
and industry. Has not immense progress been 
made already in these great objects? Will any 
man pretend to deny it? If he does, and if he 
denies the credit of our improvements to the 
freedom of the Press, he may as well assert that 
the kingdom of Ashantee is as free and as happy 
as Great Britain. If we have improved in the 
science of government since the days of the 
curfew, of the crusades, of Henry VIII., or of 
Charles I., has it not been owing, under Divine 
Providence, to the liberty of the Press ? To you, 
then, the conductors of this inestimable gift, I 
address myself, as the friend of the most friend- 
less creatures in this great empire — I mean the 
thousands of poor children without home or pa- 
rents, or who would be better without them, seeing 
that the first is the abode of disease and misery, 
the last their tutors and instructors in vice. For 
the poor females, I have at present no plan for 
immediate relief, except that of sending them by 
hundreds to our colonies, where they are wanted, 
and where they are willing to go; but for the 
boys I have a place prepared, where, to the num- 
ber of 200, they may be fed, clothed, and so in- 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 103 

structed in agricultural labour, as to enable them 
to earn an honest livelihood, either at home or 
abroad. Many years ago, I learned from a rid- 
ing master that a horse could never be trained 
by violence. From that moment I applied the 
moral lesson to man. 'If,' said I, 'I can gain his 
esteem by kindness, I shall be sure to make him 
obey me by the motives of love and gratitude.' 
The experiment has been tried, and has suc- 
ceeded beyond our most sanguine expectations. 
Away, then, with the awful and demoralizing 
system of hanging, flogging, and shooting; these 
plans 'have been weighed in the balance and 
found wanting.' Capital punishments must, no 
doubt, occasionally be resorted to; but if we mean 
to avoid the necessity of using them, we must 
watch betimes over the morals of the rising gene- 
ration. If we wish Britons to be mild, obedient, 
firm, brave, and humane, we must begin by set- 
ting them such examples in early life as will en- 
sure their continuance in the path of virtue. 
This, sir, is the synopsis of our plan, as far as re- 
gards the juvenile vagrants. There are, it is 
believed, full 15,000 of them in the metropolis, 
trained to every vice. Our laws and our police 
think only of the punishment of them when con- 



104 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

victed, never once dreaming that at a less expense 
they might be rendered happy, and faithful to 
their king and country, useful to themselves, and 
to society. On a moderate calculation, I believe 
some millions of people are about to expend, on 
an average, three shillings each in the consump- 
tion of oil and tallow to celebrate the passing 
of the Reform Bill : a large sum, which, if 
properly applied by the Labourers' Friend So- 
ciety, the Temperance Society, and the Juvenile 
Vagrant Society (not to name others equally 
meritorious), would be sufficient to relieve all 
the most prominent cases of distress in the 
country. This is the way I would celebrate the 
Reform. The poor should reap the benefit of it 
in the first instance; the rich would have their 
portion of it in the additional security afforded to 
their property by the diminution of crimes, of 
punishment, and of poor rates : drunkenness, and 
beggary (its inseparable companion), would dis- 
appear from our streets. But I am going too 
far; to do good, we must not attempt too much 
at one time: all I have, therefore, to beg of you 
at present is, to print this letter in your journal. 
We ask a regular contribution of only 5s. a year 
from all respectable housekeepers: places for 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 105 

payment will very shortly be appointed in dif- 
ferent parts of the town. In the mean time, I 
have only to say, that 30 poor boys, who have 
mostly been abandoned characters, are now earn- 
ing their bread with cheerfulness, at West Ham, 
in Essex, under the care of our officers. Our 
committee meets on Wednesdays, at half-past 
two, No. 32, Sackville-street, Piccadilly, and I 
shall be happy to afford any information. 
"I am, Sir, 
"Your obliged and obedient servant, 

"Edward Pelham Brenton. 

" Sept. 1833." 

We are convinced, that no arguments are ne- 
cessary to recommend the annexed statement — 
it carries conviction at once to every one who 
will give himself the trouble to contemplate the 
situation, the sufferings, and the prospects of the 
youthful poor in our large cities and manufactur- 
ing towns. If the plan here recommended be 
steadily persevered in, without our being dis- 
couraged at instances of abuse, which must be 
expected to occur sometimes, especially in coun- 
tries which have but recently shaken off the de- 
grading and villifying system of slavery, but 
which a vigilant government and wholesome 



106 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

laws are fully equal to provide against. All that 
has hitherto been wanting is time, by which the 
fair and salutary working of a plan may be shewn 
— a plan so evidently founded upon the purest 
and holiest motives. 

" To the Editor of the Morning Herald. 
" Sir, — As you have so kindly noticed in your 
paper of this day, the embarkation of the poor 
boys on board the Bolton, for Algoa Bay, you 
will add to the great obligations we are under to 
you, as a public writer, if you will insert a few 
observations connected with this subject. I am 
unfriendly to adult emigration, as a remedy for 
what is termed ' superabundant population;' but 
the removal, or, I might say, the transplanting 
of young people to a more open and less occupied 
field, is as necessary in human society as it is in 
the vegetable kingdom, and the effect is as bene- 
ficial in one case as in the other. If I can find 
children naked and hungry, in a filthy cellar, or a 
dreary garret, where their labour will not procure 
them the common necessaries of life, and by re- 
moving them to the Cape of Good Hope, not 
only prevent their becoming thieves, and, con- 
sequently, an expense to the country, but also 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 107 

absolutely serviceable to it, I think I shall have 
made out a case sufficient to justify further 
exertions. 

"The Society for the Suppression of Juvenile 
Vagrancy has already sent out to the Cape of 
Good Hope 95 boys, who, it may be said, have 
been thus not only rescued from destruction, but 
rendered useful to a valuable colony. The sup- 
ply is to be constantly kept up, and in no case to 
be allowed to exceed the demand. Fifty-five 
embarked on Wednesday, making the total num- 
ber, since February last, one hundred and fifty. 
We have received from our corresponding Com- 
mittees at the Cape the most flattering letters of 
approval, and there is every reason to believe 
that these poor defenceless creatures will become 
creditable members of society. The cost of their 
voyage, outfit, &c, will, in all probability, be 
thankfully repaid by their employers in the first 
instance, and ultimately deducted from the wages 
of the apprentice: so that a child is put forward 
in life, and respectably established, by an advance 
made to him on his own capital — i. e. his labour 
— the society taking the risk of death or defalca- 
tion; and this loss, if any, falls so light on the 
community at home, as to amount to nothing; 



108 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

while the benefit conferred by the diminution of 
crime, and the increased security of property, 
will be universally felt and acknowledged. 

"But the good does not end here: by the early 
removal of juvenile paupers to a place of profit- 
able labour, the certain decrease of adult paupers 
with young families must follow, and, conse- 
quently, as certain a reduction in the poor rates. 
This the parishes are now beginning to feel and 
to see. We have, therefore, only to beg your 
continued good offices, as the Editor of a very 
popular Journal, to make us known, and to ask 
that humble contribution of only 5s. a year from 
every one who can afford it, to enable us to do 
extensive and incalculable good to our country. 

"I have the honour to be, with real gratitude 
and respect, sir, your obedient servant, 

"Edward Pelham Brenton. 

"Sept. 20, 1833." 

The amount of property pillaged from the 
public may here be overrated, and yet it must 
be of* a very serious magnitude. We are not 
only to take into consideration the loss arising 
from actual robbery, but the still greater amount 
lost to the public by fraud and dishonesty, in the 
practices of the lower class of dealers. In this 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 109 

case the poor are the principal sufferers, and 
exposed to extortion in every shape, from exor- 
bitant retail prices, and damaged or inferior ar- 
ticles. Immense sums are also obtained, from 
all ranks of society, by the same means, and by 
the most ingenious false pretences; but we must 
add to this account, fearful as it is, another 
source of loss to the public — that which the 
depredator might have gained, had he been 
trained to industrious and honest habits. 

"To the Editor of the Morning Post. 
" Sir, — If it be our duty to provide for the 
happiness of our successors, and to endeavour at 
least to leave the world in a better state than 
we found it, there is no question of so much 
importance to the British empire and to the 
whole of civilized Europe as the better training 
of the children of the poor. It depends on us 
to say whether they shall be virtuous, happy, 
and industrious, or vicious, miserable, and pro- 
fligate; whether our Colonies shall be supplied 
with a young, moral, and religious population ; 
or whether the same young persons shall be 
educated in the practice of every crime, and, 
after having committed horrible offences and 



110 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

swelled the calendars to an alarming extent, 
shall be sent out as felons to our valuable settle- 
ments, cursing the land that gave them birth, 
and the laws under which they have lived. 

" Intimately acquainted as I am with the 
manners and habits of the poor, I will venture 
to say that no thief having attained the age of 
twenty-one years has purloined or destroyed 
property of less than £300 value ; to which may 
also be added the expense of his repeated cap- 
ture, detention, trial, and transportation, which 
may be classed under the head of building and 
repairing of prisons, payment of keepers, police 
officers, &c. That the system of coercion and 
punishment under which we have so long acted 
is unlikely to produce any kind of reformation 
or decrease of crime is, I think, clearly proved ; 
and deeply do I deplore that the sums which 
were expended in the building of the Milbank 
Penitentiary were not laid out in the purchase 
of garden grounds and potato fields, wherein to 
have employed and instructed young persons in 
a business which would have rendered them 
useful to themselves and their country in any 
part of the world to which they might have 
thought proper to go. A well-regulated system 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. Ill 

of agricultural education, adopted by all parishes 
(especially those of the metropolis), and in 
places as far remote as possible from gin or beer 
shops, offers, in my opinion, the safest and best 
mode of relieving the poor, and serving both the 
Parent State and the Colonies. 

" As Honorary Secretary to the Society for 
the Suppression of Juvenile Vagrancy, I have 
lately received from the Cape of Good Hope 
two Newspapers, 'The South African,' and 
'The Graham's Town Journal,' by which I 
learn that our system has been so highly ap- 
proved of as to cause public meetings to be 
held; at one of them, on the 16th of October 
last (Dr. Philips in the chair), it was resolved, 
i That our efforts were deserving of the appro- 
bation of every person both at home and abroad, 
as calculated to supply the Colonies with a de- 
scription of free labourers of which they stand so 
much in need.' Here there is at once an an- 
swer to the question which has so often and so 
triumphantly been cast in our teeth, K What will 
you do with the children when they are edu- 
cated?' — (/ never had any doubt as to what 
should be done with them when educated ; my 
anxiety was, what to do with them when unedu- 



112 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OE 

cated.) — That question is now happily set at 
rest. The Cape of Good Hope, New Holland, 
Canada, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, and even 
Newfoundland, will be glad to take more chil- 
dren, male or female, than we can send out to 
them, or than we can spare : properly trained, 
they are the riches of the country; but sent out 
as we send the raw material, they are a curse to 
the land they go to. The Cape of Good Hope 
is our half-way house and our key to India, a 
Colony of immense importance in every point of 
view; that should be the first supplied, and, 
though I am no friend to emigration, I would 
gladly see ten thousand boys properly prepared 
and sent out there, rather than see them starving 
and naked in our streets, or pining in Colclbath- 
fields and Newgate. The same number of young 
women, properly instructed in domestic manage- 
ment and economy, might gradually follow them; 
this would cut up vice by taking away the young 
shoots. The Bible and the spade for the boy; 
the Bible, broom, and needle, for the girl; the 
female must make clothes and cook, the male 
must bring in the money and the food. 

46 1 hope, at the beginning of a new year, a 
generous public will not forget that frost and 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 113 

snow is yet to come, that our Asylum at West 
Ham has only fifty boys, and that we reject 
hundreds of applications for want of funds. We 
ask but five shillings a year, and if we could ob- 
tain that from all householders, we should save 
them ten times the sum. 

" I am, sir, 
" Your most obedient servant, 

"Edward Pelham Brenton. 

"Jan. 1, 1833." 

In the extract from "The Times" newspaper 
of 11th January, 1833, we find the following re- 
commendation of the efforts making by Captain 
Brenton and his excellent friends, who had en- 
rolled themselves in the cause of the unhappy 
juvenile vagrants, and we think it due to the 
editor, as well as to the Society, to give it a place 
here. 

"In our last, we gave a brief account of the 
proceedings of the Society for the Suppression 
of Juvenile Vagrancy, in which it was agreed to 
send 20 boys to the Cape of Good Hope, to be 
employed in agriculture. Captain Brenton, the 
Honorary Secretary, has since published an Ad- 
dress, dated December 28, detailing the excel- 
lent plan which that gentleman has persevered 



114 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

in, through a host of obstacles which few would 
have been found to contend with; which plan 
has at length been partially taken up by the go- 
vernment. On this, as on many other occasions, 
were prevention and foresight to take the place 
of punishment and delay, incalculable expense 
might be saved to the country; and, what is of 
tenfold more consequence, crowds of our youth 
who, from no original fault of their own, become 
criminals, might be rendered useful and valuable 
members of society, either abroad or at home. 
We take from Captain Brenton's last address to 
the public, the two following appalling but con- 
vincing statements: — 'At the Midsummer Ses- 
sions, at the Old Bailey/ says the statement, 
'33 little boys, between ten and thirteen years of 
age, were sentenced to various terms of trans- 
portation. When their time (on board the 
hulks) is expired, they will be accomplished 
thieves, after having taken their degrees in the 
university of infamy, and will be ready for any 
desperate work which treason or rebellion may 
suggest; and thus the gangs of full grown villains 
are constantly recruited by the operation of the 
law, and thieves are educated at the expense of 
government, at a greater cost than it would take 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 115 

to maintain an honest man.' The other remark 
is this: — ' There are now confined in the prisons 
of the metropolis, between six and seven hundred 
children, and young persons, who might be made 
to earn their own living, instead of being kept at 
the public expense. The prisoners in Coldbath 
Fields, cost at the rate of £lG each per annum.' 
With such facts at these staring us in the face, is 
not that man a public benefactor of the highest 
class, who undertakes the mitigation of so great 
an evil? and are not his countrymen criminal in 
a high degree, who withhold the very scanty 
means by which only a few individuals might 
complete and consolidate so great a work? Re- 
nowned as this country is for its numberless 
public and private charities, it argues a sad want 
of discrimination, that one of so valuable a na- 
ture as that which Captain Brenton has been so 
zealously labouring to establish, should linger 
from want of funds. We trust, however, that 
the time is come when this public reproach will 
no longer exist, but that the sanction at length 
bestowed upon Captain Brenton's efforts by the 
Colonial Department, will open the eyes of the 
whole community to its importance; and that 
we shall no longer witness infancy handed over 



116 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

to crime, which might, by other methods, be 
trained up to adult virtue and utility." 

It is delightful to see the cause of humanity 
so liberally and so ably advocated by our most 
respectable daily papers. The Editors of the 
"Times/' "Herald," and "Post," were at all 
times ready to devote their valuable columns to 
the furtherance of the efforts making by the in- 
defatigable managers of the " Children's Friend 
Society." 

Although the sanguine hopes and prospects 
which filled the heart of the truly philanthropic 
character, who is the subject of this work, and 
which dictated the letter we are now to insert, 
were not realized during his life, nor indeed can 
be fully realized to the present generation, we 
have the fullest confidence that if the blessing of 
God is duly and earnestly sought, they will be re- 
alized to our posterity, to a greater degree even 
than is here looked for. Prayer and perseverance 
will not be used in vain. The means proposed 
appear so self-evident, that we can hardly ima- 
gine an argument to be brought against them, 
at least the objections would equally apply to 
every one of the great and truly and essentially 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 117 

glorious Institutions, which have risen up in this 
our favoured land — and what country possesses 
any thing like the number of them, in proportion 
to its population? To these, indeed, with the 
Divine Blessing upon them, we may attribute the 
unexampled prosperity and protection we have 
met with as a nation. We firmly believe that, 
if true and vital religion, religion manifesting 
itself in that only or effectual charity, the love of 
God, does exist in any part of the world, it is in 
our happy land. Here is abundant encourage- 
ment for the most strenuous exertions. 

" To the Editor of the Morning Post. 
"Sir — 'A friend in need is a friend indeed;' 
and such have you and two or three of your wor- 
thy brother editors proved yourselves, in the 
cause of 'the houseless child of want.' You have 
at length opened the eyes of the public to the 
crying sin of infant imprisonment, the work- 
houses and the gaols, the cellars and the garrets. 
The convict hulks, and even the dry arches, of 
Waterloo bridge, will no longer be tenanted by 
these poor little outcasts. Instead of a burden 
of increasing and intolerable weight, these hardy 
and gallant youths will become the support of 



118 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

themselves and parents, the respectable inhabi- 
tants of onr valuable colonies, the consumers of 
our manufactures, the producers of wealth. The 
demand for these young emigrants in our colonies, 
and particularly at the Cape of Good Hope, is 
indefinite, unbounded, and will increase with the 
supply, at least for some hundred years to come, 
while their outfit and conveyance give employ- 
ment to shipping, and add activity to commerce. 
To train up and send out a poor boy to South 
Africa, costs our Society about £15; but we are 
contented to receive .£12 from the colony, or 
<£10 from the parishes, supplying the remainder 
out of the generous contributions of the public, 
given in such light proportions, as not to be felt; 
while, on the other hand, the benefit conferred 
on the empire, both at home and abroad, is in- 
calculable, and will increase in a geometrical 
ratio. For as the youthful candidates for the 
workhouse are removed to profitable labour, the 
aged and incorrigible pauper will disappear; the 
price of labour will rise; but the public will gain 
by the decrease of the poor's rates, the diminu- 
tion of crime, and the reduction of police expenses, 
prisons, and county rates. Instead of being trans- 
ported as a felon, at the age of thirty, at the ex- 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 119 

pense of £25, and after having plundered ten 
times that sum, the hoy goes out a willing, cheer- 
ful, free, and happy labourer, taking with him the 
kindest and best spirit towards his country. His 
only capital is his labour, on which he receives an 
advance sufficient to set him forward in life; if 
he lives, he repays it; if he dies, the pecuniary 
loss is unfelt by society, and his place is supplied 
by another. When we took leave of the party, 
55 in number, which we embarked on Wednes- 
day, on board the Bolton, for Algoa Bay, I shall 
never forget the three hearty cheers they gave 
to the Committee, while tears of gratitude stood 
in their eyes. The little fellows had three suits 
of clothes each, with a good hammock, ready 
slung, and a good berth to hang it up in. No- 
thing had been neglected by the worthy captain 
and owners to render them comfortable. When 
I compare the present condition of these boys 
with that from which they had been rescued, 
and with that of the poor creatures now in our 
prisons, I am lost in amazement at the apathy 
with which human misery is viewed by many, 
and with the enormous sum it takes to train up 
a thief, to what it requires to make an honest 
man. Suffice it to say, that the money which 



120 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

has been spent on the Milbank Penitentiary, 
would have provided for every destitute child, 
male or female, in the metropolis, for the last five 
years. The return in wealth, gratitude, and public 
happiness would have been incalculable. I have 
always maintained that the people are the riches 
of the land. I have proved it; and I defy all 
the check-population philosophers in the world 
to refute me. 

"I could say much more on this inexhaustible 
subject, but neither your columns or the patience 
of your readers would admit of it. I, therefore, 
take my leave for a few weeks, but, in the mean 
time assure you, that I will never lose sight of 
the subject; and if the children of this civilized 
country are allowed to corrupt and rot in prisons 
and cellars, or beg their bread in our streets, it 
shall not be my fault. 

"I have the honour to be, Sir, 
"Your most obedient servant, 

"Edward Pelham Brenton. 

" Sept. 24, 1833." 

We now lay before our readers some extracts 
from a pamphlet, published by Captain Brenton, 
in 1834; nor do we think we shall be censured 
for quoting largely from his " Observations on the 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 121 

Training and Education of Children of Great 
Britain/' arising, as they do, from the intense in- 
terest he felt in the welfare of his country, and 
especially in the prosperity of the younger and 
destitute branches of our population. They will 
also shew how earnestly desirous he was of pro- 
moting the comfort of our seamen, not only those 
in his own profession, but in the merchant ser- 
vice, looking forward, it may be feared, in the 
illusive, but, at all events, in the sanguine hope, 
that should his plans be received and matured, 
they might become instrumental to the final 
abolition of the cruel, though as yet unavoidable 
system of impressment. We admit that his view 
of the present state of our seamen may have been 
taken through a gloomy medium — that he saw 
them as they often present themselves on shore, 
with their reckless and profligate habits, but not 
as they were, and still are, on board of well dis- 
ciplined ships, under prudent and judicious 
officers. It is too true that our seamen are noto- 
riously addicted to drunkenness in general, al- 
though there are many exceptions to the rule; 
but what can be expected by such thoughtless, 
but brave, and generous creatures, on their return 
to our great sea-ports, after a long and laborious 



122 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

voyage, when every blandishment, every species 
of seduction and temptation is diligently prepared 
for them. It was from the state in which he 
saw the seamen of our later days, since the 
peace, on the banks of the Thames, given up 
to vice and profligacy, that, despairing of the 
amendment of them, so deeply imbued in vice, 
he turned his attention to the rising generation, 
and sought, by educating and training the chil- 
dren of the poor, to render them a mine of wealth 
to their country, and to give them the means of 
resisting the temptations held out to them in 
every quarter, by a sound, religious, and moral 
education, by early instilling into them true Chris- 
tian principles, and habits of temperance and in- 
dustry — not employing the whole of their time 
in learning what they would be sure to forget, 
but by combining religious instruction with the 
employments by which they were to procure 
their living. 

We can easily account for the dark shade 
which seemed to hang over the profession, in 
which he had taken such delight; and perhaps 
the cause may, in some great measure, be unavoid- 
able. The distress of our seamen was the neces- 
sary consequence of the reduction of our navy 






JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 123 

at the conclusion of the war, so many being 
thrown out of employment beyond what the 
merchants could receive in their vessels. The 
numbers wandering about the streets in winter 
— wretched, sick, and destitute — was a fearful 
sight, and aggravated by the utter impossibility, 
under existing circumstances, of affording them 
relief. Can we wonder then that a person who 
felt so deeply for the distress of a fellow-crea- 
ture, and particularly of a fellow-seaman, should 
express himself in the terms of the following 
paragraph. 

"I look at the labourers in our dock-yards, and 
find them all clad in a Government uniform, with 
an iron ring about their ancles; and if I observe 
.this to the superintendent, he replies, that 'they 
are the best men possible for the work, for that 
no others can be depended upon; and, moreover, 
if they were not convicts, they would become 
chargeable to the parish. I hasten away from this 
sickening sight, and go on board the Euryalus, 
convict hulk, in the Medway. There I find two 
hundred and twenty-five little boys, whose only 
crime was not having been trained to virtue. 
These poor helpless victims of mismanagement 
and extravagance are kept in iron cages, doing 



124 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

the work of women, making shirts. I ask, if any 
of these children are likely to be reformed by 
this system; and I am told that none ever have 
been, and I infer that none ever will be. I find 
the stench intolerable — the hatchways much 
smaller than they were originally, and no wind- 
sails down. I go on shore from this miserable 
floating bastile, and I meet a large party as- 
sembled at the Sun Tavern, for the purpose of 
aiding and protecting unfortunate girls who are 
driven to ruin by want of work. I inform the 
assembly of what I had just seen on board the 
Euryalus, and I am answered by a shout of hor- 
ror. One voice exclaimed, 'They want to make 
Ferdinand the Sevenths of them.' I am neither 
proud of my country nor its institutions, when I 
see such things; nor is there any good reason 
why they should exist a moment longer. 

" I hope I am not a seditious nor a discontented 
person. I love the king and the government — 
no better government can be found among men — 
but all human institutions are susceptible of im- 
provement: and as knowledge and science ad- 
vance, the happiness of man must either keep 
pace with its improvements, or the whole fabric 
will burst asunder from its own weight. 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 125 

"History, both ancient and modern, sacred and 
profane, abounds with facts illustrative of this 
proposition; and though the generality of man- 
kind are apt to shut their eyes to the danger, it 
is the duty of every good citizen to be a watch- 
man on the tower, and to warn his countrymen 
of its approach. That danger is now at your 
doors. Apathy, indolence, false economy, and 
real parsimony, together with the most unbridled 
extravagance, are sapping the very foundations 
of the empire. 

"'The first duty of the British government 
(any government) is to look to the character and 
circumstances of its working population, the 
basis of the social pyramid: if that is crumbling 
under our feet, what shall save the superstruc- 
ture? What shall become of king, lords, and 
commons, when virtuous industry is succeeded by 
vice, crime, brutal violence, drunkenness ? Such 
is the case at this moment — the plague is rapidly 
spreading — the Beer Act has nearly undone 
the country — the gin-shops are completing its 
ruin — our agricultural labourers are demoralized 
— our sailors are sots — the youth in. our islands 
are not trained to labour, and the mental cultiva- 
tion they receive only brings forth poisonous 



126 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

fruit and bitter ashes. Look at your prisons in 
the metropolis — Colcibath Fields, Clerkenwell, 
Bridewell, Milbank Penitentiary — what reform- 
ation is produced in these colleges, when the 
devil is the head? I blame not the keepers of 
them — they do their duty — it is the system with 
which I quarrel. I blame not men, but the 
measures which have been ruinously and ob- 
stinately pursued for a series of years. In 
Clerkenwell, 1,200 prisoners cost us £20 a year 
each, or about £24,000 per annum ; in the Mil- 
bank Penitentiary, 556 persons cost each ,£30, 
(a much larger sum is stated, but I wish not to 
exaggerate.) Warwick gaol costs about £19 
for each boy annually; but I suspect that the 
whole outlay is not given in these calculations, 
as I have had reason to know has been the case 
in the metropolis. Yet, with all this, we find 
crime increasing. Whereas, did we but take 
the child in early life from the path of vice, and 
place him in the right road, we should save all 
the outlay of the prisons, hulks, the floggings, 
hangings, and transportations, the tears of mo- 
thers, the despair of fathers, the disgrace of the 
country, the growing infamy of the people, and 
the dissolution of society. 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 127 

"It would be a waste of the reader's time and 
patience to describe all the numerous instances 
of moral depravity emanating from the work- 
house and the prison. The neglect of the youth- 
ful poor by their parents, their guardians, and 
their superiors, the facility with which they can 
acquire money by begging, and the difficulty they 
experience in obtaining it by honest labour, un- 
happily combine to produce that catalogue of 
crime which we so much deplore, and prove the 
soundness of my often repeated axiom, that the 
felons of 1834, are the neglected children of 1814. 
Thus even-handed justice treads quickly on the 
heels of our guilty omission. The cost of our 
police, the spread of crime, the increase of drunk- 
enness, the numerous burglaries, the midnight 
conflagration, the loss of our ships by fire and 
wreck, the desertions in war, and the piracies in 
peace, the squalid poverty and emaciated frames 
of so many of our sailors, the increase of county 
rates and poor's rates, and the disabled state of 
society confirm the dreadful tale. 

"But the spirit of enquiry is now awake, and 
mankind may now no longer be governed by vio- 
lence, but by reason — by kind and gentle means. 
The schoolmaster is abroad, but he has burnt his 



128 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

rod, or he will burn it, when he discovers the ef- 
ficacy of the milder mode: the boy whose spirit 
rebelled at coercive measures, whose manly front 
bid defiance to torture, wept like an infant, when 
addressed in the gentle accents of affectionate 
admonition and soothing kindness. 

"Let the children at the school at Hackney 
Wick speak for themselves: let them be com- 
pared to an equal number selected from any 
workhouse, or from any metropolitan district. 
The Guardians of St. Marylebone may, I think, 
be fearlessly appealed to: their opposition has 
yielded to facts, and the triumphant appearance 
of the little happy boys, who had been absent 
three months from their workhouse, and trained 
in our country school, convinced them that their 
Committee had made a just report, and that the 
workhouse was not the place to train and edu- 
cate a child, whose birthright is liberty, whose 
duty is obedience to the laws. 

"How often have I been told that I was vi- 
sionary, flowery, Utopian — that I thought too 
well of mankind — that I never could govern 
without a rod, or a cat-o'-nine-tails. I own I 
once thought so too, but a trial of many years, 
has convinced me that I was wrong. We may 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 129 

be led, not driven; and though in the present 
state of mankind the power of punishment must 
still he confided to the captains of ships, I feel 
quite confident the recourse to it will be gradu- 
ally less and less frequent, until at last the in- 
strument called a 6 cat' will be shewn as an antique 
curiosity, like the thumb screws in the Tower, 
which were intended by the Spaniards for the 
conversion of our ancestors to the Catholic 
faith. 

"The girls' school, at Chiswick, called, by the 
express permission of their Royal Highnesses the 
Duchess of Kent and her illustrious Daughter, 
' The Victoria Asylum,' is the female branch 
of the Children's Friend Society, conducted 
exactly on the same principle as that for the boys, 
and is, if possible, still more deserving of public 
notice and support, inasmuch as the sex is more 
defenceless, and more dependent on our exer- 
tions. 

"The Committee of Management is composed 
of some of the most distinguished females in 
the country, both for rank and virtue; and it 
may fairly be presumed that such an institution 
will be a favourite with the public, and that the 
establishment of this and similar ones will shortly 



130 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

supersede the pernicious system of workhouse 
education, even for children of the youngest 
class, or, at least, such as are just out of the 
nursery. These poor helpless little innocents 
will be tended and taken care of by the elder 
girls, who will thus learn how to nurse and ad- 
minister to the wants of children, making that a 
part of their education. This may appear trivial 
to some — to me, and to those with whom I have 
the happiness to act, a good mother appears to 
be of the very first importance in rearing a good 
man: bad men may have good children, but 
rarely indeed do bad mothers train up a virtuous 
offspring. 

"The colony to which the little girls are sent, 
as soon as they are qualified to do the work re- 
quired of them, has been chiefly the Cape of 
Good Hope, where female servants are much 
wanted, and where the demand for males still 
exceeds our power to supply. 

"The accounts which we have received of the 
children after their arrival, and when they had 
been provided with good masters and mistresses, 
are most satisfactory, as upwards of one hundred 
and thirty of their letters will prove. It behoves 
the Committee at home to receive them as early 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 131 

as possible into the asylums; first, to prevent the 
contamination of vice with which they are threat- 
ened in the workhouse or prison; and secondly, 
to send them at an early age to the colony in- 
tended for their residence, in order that they may 
the better adapt themselves to their new country, 
while they cherish an affectionate and filial re- 
membrance of the kindness shewn to them in 
their parent state. 

" All our correspondents abroad concur in ask- 
ing for the children between the ages of ten and 
twelve; and we the more readily agree with them, 
inasmuch as we have invariably found that under 
the age of twelve or thirteen they are tractable 
and easily taught, while above that age they have 
too frequently caused trouble, expence, and em- 
barrassment. This experience confirms the truth 
of the motto with which I have headed this little 
book. So far all is very well for a demonstration; 
it has been satisfactorily proved that a child may 
be trained to virtue and happiness for one-tenth 
part of the expense which it usually takes to 
bring it up to destruction. 

"The teaching of a poor child to read and 
write is nothing compared to what we aspire to. 
Knowledge, however great, is not good, unless it 



132 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

is placed in good hands. I have heard of little 
boys going into the woods, in Westphalia, and 
making gunpowder; and the knowledge acquired 
in many of our schools may be applied to no 
better purpose. But whose fault is it ? Surely 
of those who, having the power to direct, give a 
wrong impulse, leave the momentum inert, or 
allow it to take a false direction; the ship is either 
run on shore by unskilful officers, or is drawn by 
the currents among rocks and shoals, because no 
one was found qualified to take the helm. 

"The e Children's Friend Society' having thus, 
in the course of seven years, with the blessing of 
divine providence, rescued upwards of thirteen 
hundred children from ruin, and rendered that 
labour profitable to the state which before was 
used to its double injury, both by the loss or de- 
struction of property, as well as by the force 
employed for its protection ; we confidently 
appeal to the good sense and humanity of the 
nation for support. We ask for a comparison 
between the relative merits of our school, and 
the workhouses, the prisons, the penitentiaries, 
the hulks, the mad-houses, and the penal colonies 
— for all these owe their being to the neglect of 
the education of the youth of this mighty em- 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 133 

pire. Our plans have long since discarded the 
names of ' experiments/ or 'theories/ or 'Utopian 
visions/ or 'flowery speculations/ they amount 
to real, solid demonstrations; and if we desire to 
have a better class of men in our armies or our 
fleets, if we wish for better domestic servants of 
both sexes, let us train them to be sober, virtu- 
ous, religious, and industrious, to fear God and to 
fear disgrace, but nothing else." 

Such are the admirable, truly benevolent, and 
patriotic reflections made by the founder of the 
"Children's Friend Society," after it had been 
in operation seven years, to which every friend 
to the suffering poor or to his country must 
respond; and when to these we add the following 
paragraph, the appeal to public notice and to 
public assistance appears to be irresistible. He 
goes on to say: 

" And shall we stop short in our work before 
it be complete. Let the reader, however exalted 
he may be in life, read the following pages,* ad- 
dressed more particularly to the humblest chil- 
dren of the empire. He will see that our object 
is only begun, its operation is only in its infancy. 
I have passed half a century in my profession. 

* See "Bible and Spade," p. 38. 



134 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

I have witnessed the execution of my fellow- 
creatures with a sigh, and a vow to heaven, that 
if ever I had the power I would endeavour to 
apply a remedy to the evils produced on man by 
his own ignorance and depravity. If we desire 
that hanging, and flogging, and crime, and drunk- 
enness, and impressment should cease, let us 
train up our soldiers and our sailors in the habits 
of religion, temperance, self-denial, and a love of 
their country." 

This was no unmeaning declamation, uttered 
with a view of gaining applause, or courting 
popularity. These were the sentiments he ut- 
tered, and the feelings he was continually expres- 
sing; and well did he redeem the pledge here 
given. The fourteen years of his life, between 
the period of his retiring from active service and 
his death, were entirely dedicated, in the most 
indefatigable exertions, to promote the welfare of 
his fellow-creatures ; and even during that period 
devoted to writing his "Naval History," where 
his motive was equally patriotic, his relaxation 
from the labour of the one, was employment in 
the cause of the other. 

He proceeds to quote a passage from the work 
of Mr. James Simpson, of Edinburgh, upon the 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 135 

subject of popular education, which gives great 
strength to the arguments in favour of the sys- 
tem pursued at the Children's Friend Society. 
It is as follows: 

"'But what is the nature of the education of 
the humbler classes which is extending in Eng- 
land, and has been so long established in Scotland? 
Is it of a kind to impart useful practical know- 
ledge for resource in life? Does it communicate 
to the pupil any light on the important subject 
of his own nature and place in creation, on the 
condition of his physical welfare, and his intel- 
lectual and moral happiness ? Does it, above all, 
make an attempt to regulate his passions, and to 
train and exercise his moral feelings, to prevent 
his prejudices, suspicions, envyings, self-conceit, 
vanity, impracticability, destructiveness, cruelty, 
sensuality? Alas, no ! it teaches him to read, 
write, and cipher, and to pick up all the rest as 
he may.* We hope to be excused for quoting 
largely from Captain Br enton's unpretending little 
book, "The Bible and Spade," on the rise and 
progress of the Children's Friend Society, shew- 
ing its tendency to prevent crime and poverty, 
and eventually to dispense with capital punish- 
ment and impressment. 

* Simpson's " Popular Education," p. 32. 



136 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

" ' At page 40, he says, "It seems indeed but 
too obvious that the real secret of education has 
hitherto been but little understood, and still less 
practised. Oberlin de Fellenberg and the ami- 
able Count Vender Heche, of Dusselthal Abbey, 
have led the way, and some few attempts have 
been made to follow them. Little, however, has 
yet been done in this country, and still less in 
Ireland, where it is much wanted. Our national 
schools are in this respect alarmingly defective." 

"'We have visited the Institution of the Chil- 
dren's Friend Society, at Hackney Wick, and, 
from what we saw, can readily subscribe to the re- 
marks made in the next paragragh, p. 41. "How 
much may be done by gently training a child 
to labour and knowledge, those only know who 
have made the experiment, and devoted their 
minds to the subject. Six weeks have made the 
most surprising change in the worst disposed 
boys; and the comparison between those who 
have been only for that period under our tuition, 
and those who have been on the streets or work- 
houses, is truly wonderful. We use no cat-o'-nine- 
tails or stick, a blow is never struck, angry words 
scarcely ever exchanged; very rarely that even 
solitary confinement for three hours had recourse 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 137 

to; a lie is seldom known, there being no induce- 
ment to depart from truth. Instances, no doubt, 
will occur where, for a time, the efforts of our 
masters seem to be thrown away. A child oc- 
casionally deserts, but rarely returns to his former 
habits. We had a remarkable instance of this at 
Hackney Wick. Three boys deserted in the 
school uniform: they were captured by the police, 
and brought before the magistrate, who, on hear- 
ing the case from me, was very angry with the 
boys, two of them having been received from the 
House of Correction but a few days before; he 
sentenced them to the prison again for fourteen 
days, and to be well whipt. The little fellows 
cried bitterly, and implored mercy, which, on my 
interceding for them, was granted. They went 
back overjoyed to the school, and became the 
pride of it afterwards. Had they gone to the 
House of Correction, it is probable they would 
have become confirmed felons. It is therefore 
our object and principal plan to abolish corporal 
punishment, not by law, but by disuse, and to 
substitute shame, for where this is wanting, tor- 
ture is useless." ' " 

The justness of this last pithy observation 
is very obvious, and will apply equally to cases 



138 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

where discipline is required. It would undoubt- 
edly be dangerous in the extreme to abolish 
punishment by law, either in the army or navy, 
but especially in the latter, where the lives of a 
whole ship's company might be endangered by 
the misconduct of an individual; but we believe 
that the measures adopted for the gradual aboli- 
tion of the practice, without the enactment of a 
positive prohibition, is doing all that can be safely 
attempted — nay, we may say, all that can be 
wished; for it is inflicted now under such regu- 
lations and restrictions, as to be visited only upon 
the worst characters, who would equally come 
under punishment if on shore, by the sentence 
of the civil power. 

To the following paragraph we can give our 
hearty assent, having seen the efficacy of such a 
system most triumphantly proved, with the ex- 
ception of the training ship, none having yet 
been established. 

"If a boy was initiated into the Navy under 
such a feeling; if he were kindly trained, and 
instructed, and taught to look up to his captain 
and his officers as friends and advisers, and his 
shipmates as brothers and companions; if he 
knew that upon his return home to England a 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 139 

hearty welcome awaited him on board a training 
ship, where he might safely deposit his chest and 
bedding, while he went to visit his parents, he 
would naturally acquire a love of his country, 
which no time would obliterate; and in the hour 
of danger he would fly to her defence with as 
much ardour as a mother would defend the infant 
in her arms. Our practical experience is con- 
firmed by many naval officers of distinction, who 
assert that their ships were invariably in the 
worst order where the most punishments were 
inflicted." 

In his indefatigable efforts to establish the 
Children's Friend Society, and to increase the 
benefits he expected from such an institution, 
Captain Brenton looked far beyond human 
means for the attainment of his object. I have 
already adverted to the diary for the last three 
years of his life. In it are numerous prayers 
shewing the fervour with which he implored the 
divine blessing upon the undertaking. I select 
a few of these records of humble and pious feel- 
ing, convinced the reader will receive them with 
indulgence. They are, indeed, indispensable to- 
wards giving a fair view of the character of the 
subject of our memoir. The selection is not 



140 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

easy, for the subject appears to have been con- 
tinually on his mind; the object of almost every 
prayer, especially of those written on the Sab- 
bath, on which day he usually took a retro- 
spective view of the past week, offering up his 
thanksgivings for success obtained, and prayers 
for continued assistance. But it was not only 
for the furtherance of this benevolent design for 
the relief of the youthful poor, that his devout 
petitions were offered up — an appeal was habi- 
tually made to the same divine power under 
every circumstance of importance, either to him- 
self or others — but that which seemed most to 
occupy his mind was the uncertainty of life, a 
convincing proof that he had long felt the in- 
crease of that disease of the heart by which his 
was terminated. 

In the full conviction that every Christian 
reader will respond to the prayers offered up by 
the promoter of the Children's Friend Society, 
we will offer no excuse for laying some of them 
before the public. These secretly recorded 
feelings of his heart will, no doubt, convince 
even the most sceptical of those who questioned 
the usefulness of the institution, that it was not 
lightly taken up by its benevolent founder; that 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 141 

its success and prosperity was the constant sub- 
ject of his prayers and thoughts ; that, under all 
the difficulties he experienced, and the opposition 
he met with, his appeal was to Him " to whom 
all hearts be open, all desires known, and from 
whom no secrets are hid." An undertaking, 
began and perseveringly carried on in such a 
spirit, cannot be otherwise than ultimately suc- 
cessful and flourishing. It may be, that for wise 
purposes the opponents to such a cause have 
been permitted to prevail; but of this we may 
be sure, that the seed sown will not all perish — 
some "will spring up, and blossom, and bear 
fruit abundantly." " The bread has been cast 
upon the waters, and will be found after many 
days." To the promoter of this most benevolent 
attempt to improve the situation of the lower 
classes of society, and to save them from de- 
struction, will doubtless be applied the precious 
words, " Inasmuch as ye did it to one of the 
least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me." 

In offering the reader some brief extracts 
from the diary kept by my brother in the last 
three years of his life, I shall endeavour to make 
the selection as limited as possible, consistent 
with the object I have in view — that of giving a 
just delineation of his character. 



142 DIARY. 

He delighted to record his recollection, and 
his gratitude for past mercies, in which he 
clearly felt and saw the hand of a divine, watch- 
ful, and benign Providence. His earnest sup- 
plications for the success and prosperity of the 
schools established for the youthful poor, and his 
prayers for the temporal and eternal happiness 
of the poor destitute children, form a very pro- 
minent part in his devotions. A continual ex- 
pectation of a sudden removal from this world, 
and a preparation for it, had long been habitual 
to him, and led him to cultivate a cheerful re- 
signation to the will of God, as well as a de- 
pendence upon the divine blessing for the fur- 
therance of his undertakings. His solicitude for 
the welfare of his relatives and friends, and par- 
ticularly for the religious progress of the younger 
branches, is a very frequent subject of his prayers. 
These humble and fervent petitions will doubt- 
less be effectually heard and answered far beyond 
the most sanguine hopes of him who uttered them. 
I have been induced to make more copious ex- 
tracts than I intended, but felt that I could not 
be more brief without doing injustice to the sub- 
ject I had ventured upon. I have selected them 
from nearly 1100 memoranda, which I have 



DIARY. 143 

found amongst his papers — confining myself to 
such as appeared best adapted to shew how, un- 
der the various circumstances of life, he was led 
to the expression of gratitude and love, of trust 
and confidence, or of cheerful submission to "the 
dispensations of Divine Providence. 

On the 10th of January, 1836, he was evi- 
dently thinking that his time of departure might 
be near at hand, and he writes: 

" Jan. 10. — Almighty and eternal Lord God, 
behold I am in thy hands, to do with me as 
seemeth best in thy sight. Have mercy on me, 
and grant that in all my troubles and afflictions 
I may place my whole trust and confidence in 
thee. Grant me to be ever ready to depart, 
having, by thy grace, a pure heart and a right 
spirit; so that, whenever it may please thee to 
take me, it shall not be said that I was suddenly 
called away. And this I beg through Jesus 
Christ." 

"Jan. 24. — Most merciful and ever-living Lord 
God, grant me the gift of wisdom and strength 
to perform thy will; grant me to be every day 
prepared to quit this world, and to be received 
into thine everlasting kingdom. Extend this 



144 DIARY. 

blessing, O Lord, to all that are clear to me, and 
to all the children of our schools. Grant this, O 
Lord, for the sake," &c. 

The next extracts will shew the habitual con- 
tentment and gratitude of his heart for all the 
blessings and mercies showered down upon him, 
and his entire exemption from these ambitious 
and selfish feelings by which so large a portion 
of mankind are induced to overlook the blessings 
provided for them, in contemplating the superior 
advantages, if they may be called so, of those in 
the scale of society placed above them. We be- 
lieve that he was more than usually exempt from 
these worldly feelings; that his whole heart and 
soul were engaged in promoting the best inte- 
rests of others, and especially of the friendless 
and the destitute. He had, at the same time, 
the prosperity of his country ever upon his 
mind, and was constantly occupied in devising 
the means of bringing good out of evil; and by 
rescuing the youthful classes from degradation 
and vice, to render them eminently useful to the 
state. We have in our possession many quires, 
we might almost say reams, of paper, written upon 
this subject, in unconnected pieces, some of which 
will be inserted in this work, and tend to prove 






DIARY. 145 

how much time and energy the writer of them 
devoted to the subject. 

" March 27, 1836.— One of the most lovely 
days I ever beheld, and -I and mine in perfect 
health to enjoy it. Eternal, grateful praises be 
to thy holy name, O Thou from whom all bless- 
ings flow ! Grant me to feel every day a deeper 
sense of what I owe to thee. Behold thou hast 
freely given me more than I could deserve or 
desire of this world's goods. Lord, increase not 
my worldly goods, but for the relief of others; 
and rather diminish my temporal and bodily 
wants, that I may have more to spare for the 
pressing wants of others. Grant to me and all 
mine, O Lord, an abundant supply of thy Holy 
Spirit, that we may see and know thee, and thy 
wondrous works, with an enlarged heart and a 
clearer understanding. Have mercy on all our 
poor children, and be with them in the distant 
parts of the earth — through" 

" April 17- — I feel quite sure that my heart 
is not in a right state ; that, although I try to 
conceal it from myself, I think more of this 
world's comforts than I do of a future state. I 
feel that my faith is weak and wavering, although 
at times it appears to burn with ardour. My 

L 



146 DIARY. 

spirits are too much depressed with disappoint- 
ment; and this could not happen but that my 
mind was bent on some worldly object. Since, 
then, I knew my disease, I may also find a cure. 
That can only be obtained by prayer. Merciful 
and eternal Searcher of all hearts, cleanse the 
thoughts of mine, and renew a right spirit within 
me. Keep me from impure, unholy, and covet- 
ous desires, and grant me ever to have thee be- 
fore my eyes. Extend thy blessing to all whom 
I love: to our poor children, and to all who sur- 
round me in this world: finally, to all people: 

for great is thy power. This I beg" 

" May 1. — Almighty and ever-living God, the 
more I reflect on thy power, thy mercy, and thy 
goodness, and thy wondrous works, the more I 
am lost in wonder and amazement that thou 
shouldest care for such insignificant beings as 
we are; but thou hast made us, in mercy, to 
become the inhabitants of a better world. This 
is our hope, our stay, our refuge in the storm. 
Keep fast in us, O Lord, this anchor of the soul. 
Keep us ever active and watchful in the per- 
formance of our duty. Shed thy continued 
blessings on our schools, plant thy word in the 
hearts of our children, and let it bring forth fruit 



DIARY. 147 

abundantly, to the honour and praise of thy holy 
name — through/' &c. 

"June 17. — May the Almighty please to ac- 
cept of our humble services to his praise and 
glory. We can never sufficiently praise and 
thank him for all his mercies. I will still trust 
in Him, and not be afraid. He will provide for 
all our wants. I was once a little boy without 
a shilling which I could call my own; and now I 
have a sufficiency, not only for my own wants, 
but something to spare for the wants of others. 
This is the Lord's doing, and I fear I do not give 
away as much as I should do out of my little 
store. Lord, expand my heart, and make me to 
see that the more I give to my needy brethren, 
the more blessings thou dost pour down on me 
and mine. Grant me thy Holy Spirit to know 
and do thy will, and keep me and all I love in 
the paths of peace and virtue, through Jesus 
Christ. Amen." 

In a fit of gout. 

"July 10, 1836.— O God, how merciful art 
thou to me: grant me thy grace to improve my 
time while it is yet day. Behold, I know not 
how soon I must appear before my Lord and 
Maker, and my Redeemer. O how shall I ap- 



148 DIARY. 

pear. Wash me from all my sins, cleanse me 
from all my unrighteousness, and grant that I 
may be prepared at any moment of my life to 
appear before thee. Grant the same to all whom 
I love, to all our poor children, and especially to 
those to whom thou knowest, Lord, I am bound 
to with the strongest ties of affection." 

"July 20, 1836. — Almighty and everlasting 
God, I return thee most humble and hearty 
thanks for thy great mercy in that thou hast 
conducted me safely to the beginning of the 63rd 
year of my life. Grant, Lord, that I may grow 
in grace, and in love to thee. Give me wis- 
dom and understanding that I may serve thee 
— through," &c. 

"August 14, 1836. — Lord, of thine infinite 
mercy keep me in the right way. Guide all my 
steps. Let me be thy humble instrument in 
doing good to my fellow creatures. I thank 
thee most humbly that the name of our society 
has at length attracted the notice of our govern- 
ment.* By thy bounty it will increase, and 
bring forth fruits. O Lord, let it not perish for 
want of nourishment, but shed thy blessing upon 
this vine that thou hast planted, and grant thy 
Holy Spirit to thy people, through" — 
*See debate in Lords — 12th August. 



DIARY. 149 

A detachment of children having been em- 
barked for Canada, he offers up the following 
prayer that the divine blessing may attend them; 
a prayer which was doubtless heard, and will be 
effectually granted, to the present and eternal 
welfare of many of those youthful individuals. 

"Aug. 21. — Almighty and most merciful God, 
Protector of all who trust in thee, receive our 
prayers for the good of our poor little children, 
twenty of whom we have this day sent off to 
Canada. Be thou with them, O Eternal Father; 
guide them with thy Holy Spirit, for Jesus 
Christ's sake. Bless them in their voyage across 
the ocean, and in their more perilous voyage 
through life, until they reach thy blessed haven 
of eternity. Guard and protect them; keep 
them in the love of thee, and give them as much 
of worldly goods as will keep them out of the 
snares of temptation, and this I beg" — 

"Aug. 28, 1836. — O thou who governest all 
things in heaven and in earth, guide and direct 
me in the right way. Grant me to ask only such 
things as shall be pleasing to thee; give me wis- 
dom, and purity of thought; grant me to know 
thy will and to do it: pour thy Holy Spirit 
abundantly into our hearts; guide all our poor 



150 DIARY. 

orphan children, so that in the desert they may 
find the well of water, and know that thou art 
present with them every where. Be thou with 
our young emigrants when they cross the deep, 
and protect them alike from the storm, and from 
the snares of the devil. O let thy merciful ears 
be open to our cry, and grant us thy peace this 
day and for ever." 

" Oct. 2, 1836.— Stir, up, Almighty God, I 
hnmbly beseech thee, the hearts of our rulers to 
the protection and training of these poor children; 
let them not be lost for want of our care; let thy 
Holy Spirit be with us all, and grant that we 
may be the means of finishing this great work of 
moral and religious reform, that the poor may 
know thee, and that thy holy name may be never 
pronounced among them but with due reverence 
in devout prayer. Let thy blessing be upon our 
land, so that we may be a refuge to the oppressed, 
and grant that true religion, justice, peace, and 
every virtue may flourish among us, through," &c. 

After a very stormy week. 

" Almighty and most merciful God, it is only 
of thy great goodness that we are not all de- 
stroyed: we are a sinful people; and behold thou 
hast, in the last week, sent thy storms and tern- 



DIARY. 151 

pests to warn us to flee from the wrath to come. 
How terrible art thou, O God, when thou comest 
forth in anger to judge the rebellious! O grant 
us thy grace and Holy Spirit, that we may serve 
and please thee better; dwell in our hearts, and 
keep them pure and holy. Keep all our dear 
children in the fear and dread of thee, and the 
love of thy Son and Saviour Jesus Christ." 

On the departure of his nephew (recently 
married) to the Continent, he writes thus : 
" Most gracious, powerful, and merciful Lord 
God, who hast shown to thy unworthy servant 
so many, such great mercies, be pleased to hear 
my prayer, which goeth not out of feigned lips. 
Bless, protect, and guide this young couple, 
wheresoever they go: be with them in all their 
doings: grant them a rich portion of thy Holy 
Spirit: sanctify them, and keep them in peace, 
and in the fear of thee; and whatsoever may be 
our destinies in this world, grant that we may 
all meet together, to part no more, in thy ever- 
lasting kingdom. Look with thy continued fa- 
vour on my labours, and guide me in every thing 
which shall redound to thy honour and glory, and 
to the good of my fellow-creatures, through," &c. 

Oct. 9, 1836, whilst confined to bed with a 



152 DIARY. 

severe illness, which had continued a week, he 
writes: " Almighty God, I am too unmindful of 
all thy mercies; I never do sufficiently praise 
thee for all thy mercies. I think only of this 
world and its enjoyments; and when, for a time, 
it pleaseth thee to suspend them, then I think 
that thou hast hidden thy face from me. O 
God, teach me to know thee better; teach me 
so to learn Christ, that in all tribulation my soul 
may magnify the Lord, and my spirit may re- 
joice in God my Saviour. Grant me grace to 
address thee from my bed of sickness, with fer- 
vour and sincerity of heart, through the same 
our," &c. 

Convalescent. 

" Oct. 16. — Almighty and everlasting God, 
with whom are all the issues of life and death, 
grant us to be so prepared, that when it shall 
please thee to summon me or mine, we may 
cheerfully say, 'Thy will be done.' Shed abroad 
thy saving grace into the hearts of all the dear 
children in our schools, and grant thy blessing to 
these in all parts of the globe whither thy good 
providence shall direct them: and this I beg"— 

Recovery. 

" Oct. 30. — Almighty and most merciful God, 



DIARY. 153 

pardon my coldness towards thee, and grant me 
vigour of body and mind to perform my duties of 
prayer and devotion, which, during my last ill- 
ness, I have so dreadfully neglected. Deal not 
with me, O Lord, according to my deserts; but, 
according to thy great mercy, do thou bless and 
favour us. Do thou bless the poor and the sick 
with comforts to their bodies and their souls. 
Bless all our poor children with increase of 
grace. Sanctify us as a people; and grant, that 
in our worldly abundance, we may not forget 
thee, our God. Grant this," &c. 

"Nov. 6, 1836. — Lord, how many, and great, 
and undeserved are thy mercies towards me. Do 
thou, O Lord, by thy quickening Spirit, make 
me more worthy of them. Give me a clean 
heart, and renew a right spirit within me. Give 
me wisdom and understanding, that I may know 
thy ways. Bless our poor children — those in 
the wilderness. Be thou their Guide. Grant 
them thy Holy Spirit, and teach them to know 
thy Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ, whom thou 
hast sent. Bless my King and country, and 
keep peace on earth, through the same." 

On the first day of the year 1837, we find this 
prayer for the children of the schools : " O God 



154 DIARY. 

of all power, be pleased to look down with an 
approving eye upon our humble endeavours to 
save these our poor children. Bless them, O 
most merciful Father, with increase of grace, 
and guide their footsteps in the paths of peace 
and righteousness. Be with them when they 
cross the ocean, and when they wander in the 
desert. Keep them from bodily harm, and from 
spiritual evil. Let their thoughts be fixed on 
thee and thy dear Son. Let them be a comfort 
to their friends and to their neighbours. Up- 
hold their goings, that their footsteps slip not; 
and give them patience and courage under their 
afflictions, to thy honour and glory; and lead 
them to their everlasting rest. And this we 
beg"— 

Dec. 10, having visited his brother-in-law at 
Greenwich, whom he found confined to bed, with 
scarcely a hope of recovery, he offers up the fol- 
lowing prayer : " Almighty God, if we may 
humbly approach thy awful throne, to make 
known our wants and our desires, do thou grant 
us thy Holy Spirit, to ask only such things as 
may please thee. Thou knowest, O Lord God, 
our hearts desire that this our dear brother may 
be spared to us for a season. The best are never 



DIARY. 155 

sufficiently prepared to appear before thee, but 
we confide in thy long-tried mercy, that thou 
wilt dipose of us as seemeth best to thy godly 
wisdom. Not our will, but thine, be done. Only 
do thou send us thy Comforter, that we may 
have the consolation of knowing that thou art 
ever with us, and that not even a sparrow falleth 
to the ground without thy permission. Accept, 
we pray thee, our prayers, and our praises, and 
thanksgivings, through," &c. 

Dec. 18, he writes: "At half-past eight, this 
morning, I received a letter from Greenwich, 
saying that our dear John died at eight o'clock 
last night, in perfect peace. The Lord gave, 
and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the 
name of the Lord. Most merciful and gracious 
Lord God, who she west thy mercy in sending 
such afflictions as serve to awaken us to a sense 
of our present mortal and perishable state ; we 
adore thy holy name, that thou hast been pleased 
to take our dear brother to thy holy and ever- 
lasting rest. We bless thee that he departed in 
full confidence in Jesus, the great Saviour of 
mankind. Lord, grant that we who now remain 
to deplore his loss, may have comfort and conso- 
lation from thy Holy Spirit, through the same" — - 



156 



DIARY. 



"March 26, 1837.— Almighty and everlasting 
Lord God, Creator and Governor of the Uni- 
verse, thou great Judge of all our actions, and 
who also knowest our inmost thoughts; be 
pleased of thine infinite mercy and goodness to 
receive my humble and hearty thanks for thy 
great mercy and lovingkindness towards our 
schools and our poor children. O Thou Father 
of the fatherless, continue to watch over them, 
and grant me wisdom and thy Holy Spirit to 
remain firm in pursuit of doing good ; and this 
I beg" 

In the month of May, in this year, all seemed 
so prosperous with the schools and the youthful 
emigrants, that his heart rose in joyful and 
grateful acknowledgments. He writes : 

"May 6. — I feel daily more and more the effi- 
cacy of prayer. I feel quite confident that we 
owe all the success which has attended our 
schools to our constant appeal to the throne of 
grace. I will therefore never cease to praise 
and pray and give thanks; for while God is with 
us, who shall be against us? Almighty God, 
put into my heart good desires, pious, and holy, 
and religious thoughts, that I may be guided 
entirely by thy Holy Spirit in all things, and 



DIARY. 157 

finally be the instrument of salvation unto many; 
and this I beg/' &c. 

"May 28. — O God, how infinite is thy mercy 
towards me and mine. Surely thou art more to 
be praised and adored than our feeble powers 
can find words to express. Oh! fill us with 
light. Give us of thy Holy Spirit. Guide us 
in the right way. Teach us to be effectually 
useful to our poor brethren, and to be the means 
of bringing them, by hundreds and by thousands, 
to the kingdom of thy dear Son. Let thy mer- 
ciful ears be open to our call. Grant success to 
my late appeal to the public. Let the history 
of the Children's Friend Society be spread over 
the land; and let vice, and crime, and poverty 
give way to virtue, and peace, and comfort; so 
that, in our prosperity, we forget not thee, our 
God, and thy Son Jesus Christ, whom thou hast 
sent." 

June 4, 1837. — In the memorandum for this 
day he writes : " Teach us, O Lord, to despise 
the pleasures of sense, and look only for the do- 
ing of thy will, for an happiness here and in 
eternity. Guard and protect us, and our dear 
dear friends and relatives,, our King and coun- 
try, and our poor children; protect them with 



158 DIARY. 

thy mighty arm ; raise them up friends in every 
quarter of the world; be with them in the 
parched wilderness and the barren land, and 
grant them thy good Spirit, that they may be- 
come thy humble instruments of converting the 
desert into a garden of the Lord. Thy power 
can do this, O Lord ; for nothing is impossible 
with thee. O God, bless us with increase of 
food; save thy people; and keep us ever — 
through," &c. 

"July 16. — Gracious and eternal Lord God, 
be pleased to hear my humble prayer. Bless 
with thy favour our Queen: give her heavenly 
wisdom in abundance, and grant her wise and 
upright ministers, that by the justice of her mea- 
sures, thy Holy Church may be established, and 
that we may live in peace and happiness under 
thy protection. Bless all our poor children with 
thy Holy Spirit: be with those who are in dis- 
tant lands, and save them from all dangers both 
spiritual and temporal, and this I beg" — 

Her most gracious Majesty having expressed 
herself favourable to the schools, the pious 
founder thus offers up his praises to the Source 
of all good. 

"July 23. — Almighty Father, we behold 



DIARY. 159 

another instance of thy bounty towards onr 
schools. Thou hast put it into the heart of our 
Queen to receive us, and to hear our petitions. 
May she become our protectress, and through 
thy grace, may she establish them in every part 
of her kingdom. Do thou be with us always, 
and let not thy face be turned from us. Be 
thou our constant Guide and Guard, and increase 
the number of our friends, through," &c. 

It will be readily supposed that a mind so con- 
tinually brooding over the sufferings of the juve- 
nile poor would feel a deep interest in the 
discussions which about this time took place in 
parliament upon the subject of the children em- 
ployed in the factories : we find accordingly in 
a memorandum written about this time the fol- 
lowing pathetic prayer: "Almighty and ever- 
lasting God, behold we look up to thee for grace 
and protection. We implore thine aid against 
our spiritual enemies. Have mercy upon the 
poor children of this realm: soften the hearts of 
their cruel task-masters, and diminish their por- 
tion of labour. Continue thy blessings on our 
schools. Pour thy grace into the hearts of our 
children; bless them with a moderate portion of 
worldly goods, that they may not be poor, and 



160 DIARY. 

steal; let them not be rich, lest they forget thee. 
Hear then my humble supplication/' &c. 

"May 8. — Eternal Lord God and merciful 
Father, look with thy continued goodness on me 
and mine. Give me a thankful heart, and teach 
me to do thy will. Give thy grace and Holy 
Spirit to thy people, that they may forward the 
great work of educating the poor, so that the 
hearers of thy word and the doers of thy will 
may be multiplied through the land, and this I 
beg"— 

"May 23. — I attended the dinner for the Chil- 
dren's Friend Society at the London Tavern, 
and was happy beyond expression to see the 
favour in which we were held by the public. 
£425 was collected at the table." 

"May 29. — And now, O most holy and boun- 
tiful Lord God, how shall I praise and thank 
thee worthily for all thy mercies — for the bles- 
sings of only the past week! Behold, thou hast 
filled my heart with joy and gladness at the pros- 
perity of our schools. Surely thou art a God 
who hearest and answerest prayer. Surely 
thou, O God, hast blessed and crowned our 
endeavours with honour. Our children are 
happy, and their lips taught to praise thy adorable 



DIARY. 1>G1 

name, and to seek the salvation of thy Son, our 
Lord Jesus Christ. Make us more holy and 
litter each day to approach the footstool of thy 
mercy seat. Cleanse the impurities of our sinful 
hearts, and grant us ever to love thee, and to 
shun those sins which brought clown thy just 
anger on the nations which have gone before us. 
Grant us thy Holy Spirit to be with us always, 
through," &c. 

"Lord, remember us for good. Guard our 
schools; protect our children in all parts of the 
world, and let them carry the word of truth to 
the deserts of Africa, the wilds of North America, 
and to the distant shores of New Holland and 
Australia, until the wilderness shall blossom as 
the garden of the Lord. Thy mercy, O God, is 
seen; grant us thy peace, and let my country be 
the resort of virtue and true religion. Grant 
thy Holy Spirit to our rulers, and establish thy 
Church among us, through," &c. 

"May 20. — My mind is now so much bent 
upon the improvement and enlargement of our 
Children's Friend System that I can think of no- 
thing else. May God of his infinite goodness 
and mercy direct me in the right way. Al- 
mighty God, behold thy work. It is of thy gOod- 



162 DIARY. 

ness that our poor children are increasing in 
number, and improving in virtue and the love of 
thee. O hide not thy face from us, merciful 
God, but, as thou hast begun a good work in our 
hearts, so be pleased to bring it to a fruitful and 
prosperous end. Spread thy protecting wings 
over us — improve our means, enlarge our under- 
standings. Let the government see that we are 
really pursuing the only true means of diminish- 
ing crime. Let thy Holy Spirit dwell among 
us, and grant us thy peace, through Jesus Christ 
our strength and our Redeemer." 

" Merciful and everlasting God, be pleased to 
receive our humble and hearty thanks for the 
mercies of the week past, and bless our endea- 
vours to learn thy will and do it. Bless the 
Queen and her government. Inspire her and 
her ministers with good and holy thoughts, and 
grant that they may teach the children of the 
poor to love thy name. Strengthen our hands, 
that we may rescue these poor creatures from 
poverty and crime, and give to us and to them 
largely of thy Holy Spirit, that they may spread 
thy Gospel in the utmost parts of the earth. 
Hear this prayer, Almighty Father, for thy dear 
Son's sake, Jesus Christ. Amen." 



DIARY. 1G3 

Here we observe the same anxious feelings 
working in his mind in all their intensity, offering 
up a fervent and comprehensive prayer for bless- 
ings upon all classes of society, and especially 
that those in the higher should be made the 
humble instruments of good, to the multitude of 
the suffering and the destitute. Such was the 
habitual tone of his thoughts at all times, and 
under all circumstances ; the subject of every 
conversation, in every society; and the very last 
that occupied his attention in this world. 

On the 28th January he makes the following 
reflections: "I am quite well, except now and 
then a kind of hint in my knee or my foot that 
the gout is ready at a moment's warning; and 
as it is impossible to foresee what might be the 
result of another attack, it is my duty to be 
prepared for the worst ; and when a man is pre- 
pared, the worst is the best. Merciful and Al- 
mighty God, grant that I may be prepared, that 
whenever it shall seem good to thee, I may pass 
from this scene of trial and wickedness to thine 
everlasting kingdom: and not me only, O my 
God, but all whom I love, and all whom I have 
ever loved: grant to my dearest and faithful 
wife, whom in thy wonderful goodness and 



164 DIARY. 

mercy thou hast given to me, to be with me in that 
everlasting rest which thou hast prepared for 
them that love thee. Bless the Queen and her 
Ministers. Let wisdom and truth guide them 
by thy Holy Spirit to do such things as are 
pleasing in thy sight, to the good of their coun- 
try, and to thy honour and glory, through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen." 

We are quite sure that the preceding extract 
will recommend itself to the Christian reader, 
from the ingenuous and sincere expressions of 
gratitude, love, and confidence it manifests to- 
wards God — the cheerful resignation to the di- 
vine will, and the ardent affection which he 
bore to those dear to him; whilst his love for his 
Sovereign and his country was never for a mo- 
ment lost sight of, but continued, under all 
circumstances, to be the subject of his fervent 
prayers. 

The sufferings of the poor in Scotland were 
at this time very great, in consequence of the 
failure of the last harvest. This circumstance 
led to the earnest prayer contained in the next 
extract. 

"May 21. — O God, do not thou desert us; 
hide not thy face from us, although we have 



DIARY. 165 

greatly deserved thine anger; yet spare us, good 
Lord, and restore to us thy wonted bounty. 
Look with compassion upon the poor sufferers 
in the north. Open the hearts of those who 
have enough, and to spare, of this world's goods, 
and send them relief in their present necessities. 
Grant thy blessing on our land; grant us thy 
peace ; and protect our poor children, wherever 
they may be; and this I beg" — 

The fearful desecration of the Sabbath in the 
metropolis and its neighbourhood was deeply 
felt by my brother, and called forth this earnest 
prayer : 

" April 30. — O God, how thine unmerited 
bounties descend upon us thankless creatures! 
Behold, thy Sabbaths are violated and disre- 
garded by the rich and powerful of the land. 
Punish not the innocent, O Lord, with the 
guilty; confound not all in one common ruin. 
We deplore this madness. Like thy rebellious 
people, Israel, when they set up their idols, and 
turned away from their true and living God, 
they have rebelled against thee: even so are we, 
after all thy manifold mercies and deliverances, 
turning away and seeking our own pleasures on 
thy Sabbath-day. We are not worthy, O Lord, 



166 DIARY. 

that thou shouldest care for us; but we know 
that thy mercy is everlasting, and thy power in- 
finite. Spare us, therefore, good Lord, and turn 
the hearts of these people to do that which is 
lawful and right. Grant them thy Holy Spirit, 
to see the right way; and this I beg" — 

Having been under the necessity, whilst in the 
office of churchwarden, of procuring the dismis- 
sal of a person from office, he writes the follow- 
ing prayer: 

" March 6, 1836.— Almighty and merciful 
God, the searcher of all hearts, and from whom 
no secrets are hid, thou knowest that I have not 
accused this man without just cause. Thou 
knowest that he has profaned thy sanctuary by 
drunkenness, and that in seeking his dismissal I 
have no other motive than the good of thy 
church. Turn him from his evil ways, O Lord. 
Spare him, that he may repent, and be con- 
verted, and grant thy peace to him and his fa- 
mily. Save me and mine, O God, from sin, and 
let me not, while I reprove others, be myself a 
castaway. All this I beg," &c. 

I shall give but one more extract from the 
diary, but this is an important one. He had 
first heard that unfavourable reports were abroad 



DIARY. 167 

respecting the children which had been sent to 
the Cape, and he writes: 

"Dec. 12. — At the office this morning, where 
there is an unpleasant feeling among some of the 
leading members as to the kind treatment of the 
children at the Cape. I trust in God the next 
accounts will dispel their fears. I have none; and 
trust have thorough confidence in God that our 
schools will finally triumph." 

"Dec. 16. — Almighty and everliving Lord 
God and Eternal Father, accept my humble and 
hearty thanks for the mercies of the past week, 
and bring to my mind with a view to repentance, 
all my sins and omissions, that I may amend my 
ways, and be perfect before thee. O God, my 
heart is fully bent and fixed on the welfare of 
our schools, and yet we are sore vexed and per- 
plexed at the conflicting accounts we receive 
from the colonies as to the treatment of the chil- 
dren and the prospects of their moral and re- 
ligious improvement. Do thou, O God, take 
them under thine especial care. Inspire their 
employers with a kindly feeling towards them; 
turn the hearts of our enemies in our favour, and 
encourage us with pleasing accounts of their wel- 
fare, and this I beg, through Jesus Christ our 
Lord and Saviour. Amen." 



168 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

"Dec. 19. — At the office, where I was con- 
cerned to see much despondency as to the suc- 
cess of our children at the Cape. I never will 
despair, for I feel that God has not forsaken us. 
I will redouble my efforts and my prayers ; for if 
the Cape does not require the children at all, 
still they must be trained and educated." 

Among Captain Brenton's papers upon the 
important subject of giving early education to 
the infant poor, we find a reference to a speech 
made by Lord Brougham, in the House of Lords, 
on the 24th of May, 1835, which appears so 
completely confirmatory of the arguments which 
my brother had incessantly urged upon this sub- 
ject, that I feel justified in giving an extract 
from it. His lordship in the course of his speech 
upon the education of the people, disapproves of 
the system pursued in our national schools^ and 
amongst other objections he observes, "That they 
are only open to children too far advanced in 
years. I consider the establishment of infant 
schools one of the most important improvements, 
I was going to say in the education, but I ought 
rather to say in the the civil polity of this country, 
that have for centuries been made. I believe no 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 169 

one who has had an opportunity of observing 
these institutions will feel the least hesitation in 
assenting to this opinion, and in confessing how 
desirable it is that the system should be generally 
adopted. But I wish now particularly to call 
the attention of the House to the reasons of fact, 
on which alone the usefulness of infant education 
is established. I assert, that we begin much too 
late with the education of children. We take 
for granted, that they can learn little or nothing 
under six or seven years old, and we thus lose 
the very best season of life for instruction. 
Whoever knows the habits of children at an 
earlier "age than that of six or seven, the age at 
which they generally attend the infant schools — 
whoever understands their temper, their feelings, 
their habits, and their talents, is well aware of 
their capacity for receiving instruction long before 
the age of six. The child is at three and four, 
and even partially at two and under, perfectly 
capable of receiving that sort of knowledge 
which forms the basis of all education. But the 
observer of children, the student of the human 
mind, has learnt but half his lesson if his expe- 
rience has not taught him something more. It 
is not enough to say that a child can learn a great 



170 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

deal before the age of six years; the truth is, 
that he can learn, and does learn a great deal 
more before that age, than he ever learns, or can 
learn in all his after life. His attention is more 
easily roused in a new world; it is more vivid in 
a fresh existence. It is excited with less effort, 
and it engraves ideas deeper in the mind. His 
memory is more retentive, in the same propor- 
tion in which his attention is more vigorous. 
Bad habits are not yet formed, nor is his judg- 
ment warped by unfair bias. Good habits may 
easily be acquired, and the pain of learning be 
almost destroyed. A state of listless indifference 
has not begun to poison all joy, nor has indolence 
paralyzed his powers, or bad passions quenched 
or perverted useful desires. He is all activity, 
enquiry, exertion, motion; he is eminently a 
curious and a learning animal — and this is the 
common nature of all children, not merely of 
clever and lively ones, but of all who are en- 
dowed with ordinary intelligence, and who in a 
few years become, through neglect, the stupid 
boys and dull men we see."* 

If this view of the effect of early education 

* Speech on " Education of the Poor," — see pamphlet published 
in 1835, p. 12. 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 171 

be correct, of which there can be little doubt, 
how important it is that measures should be im- 
mediately adopted for, the general education of 
the infant poor throughout the empire: not left 
to the benevolence of those who are willing to 
support infant schools, but that they should be 
forthwith established, particularly in our cities 
and large towns, by the immediate interference 
of Government, and at the expense of the State. 
The outlay might be considerable, but the benefit 
would be proportionably great, and produce ul- 
timately a higher return for the capital so em- 
ployed, than by any other means which could be 
devised; in a pecuniary point of view, by the 
reduction of poor rates, diminishing the expense 
of prisons and workhouses, the hire of transports 
and the cost of the penal colony; and morally, 
by the withdrawing thousands from vice, indo- 
lence, and villainy, and making them, under the 
divine blessing, useful and valuable members of 
the community here, and, above all, leading them 
to everlasting happiness hereafter. 

We find in the "Morning Herald," of the 1st 
of June, 1838, the account of a meeting in aid 
of the Children's Friend Society, which was the 
object of its founder's continual solicitude, and for 
which he offered up such fervent petitions: 



172 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

" Yesterday the annual meeting of the friends 
and supporters of this admirable institution was 
held in the lower room, Exeter Hall; his Royal 
Highness the Duke of Cambridge in the chair. 
This society was established in the year 1830, 
with the view of preventing juvenile vagrancy, 
and substituting useful, healthy, and profitable 
employment for that idle and disorderly course 
of life. The meeting was attended by a nume- 
rous assemblage of ladies and gentlemen of rank 
and high respectability, amongst whom we ob- 
served the Right Hon. the Earl of Eldon, the 
Right Hon. the Earl Grosvenor (the president 
of the institution), Sir Charles Lemon, M.P., 
Mr. Gaily Knight, M.P., Mr. Gibson, M.P., 
Sir Arthur De Capel Brooke, Bart., Baldwin 
F. Duppa, Esq., John Francis Maubert, Esq., 
Mr. Serjeant Adams, Captain Brenton, R.N. 
(to whose philanthropy and zeal the society 
owes its formation, and to whose unwearied ex- 
ertions in its behalf the success which has at- 
tended its operations is in a great measure, if 
not entirely, attributable), the Dowager Mar- 
chioness of Hastings, Lady George Murray, 
the Hon. Miss Murray, Mrs. Bo wen, &c." 

The whole of the report, with the speeches, 






JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 173 

will be read with deep interest; but as they 
occupy several columns, they are too long for 
insertion here. I trust I may be excused for 
giving that of Captain Brenton, as, however it 
may be deficient in eloquence, it will shew the 
energy of his character, and the irrepressible 
feelings under which he thought and acted, 
whilst advocating the cause of the destitute 
children of the poor. 

" Captain Brenton then rose to propose a re- 
solution of thanks to the ladies' committee of 
management. The gallant officer, on presenting 
himself to the meeting, was hailed with enthu- 
siastic applause. He said he should trespass but 
a short time on the meeting, as he felt he had 
been anticipated in almost every thing he had 
to say by the previous speakers. This society 
owed its origin to the circumstance of two poor 
girls having been murdered by their mistress in 
the parish of St. Pancras. From that time, he 
made it his business to visit constantly the work- 
house of Marylebone, and he had observed with 
great dissatisfaction the system of apprenticing 
the poor children at an early age, the only mo- 
tive for which was the getting rid of the expense 
of their maintenance in the workhouse. On one 



174 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

occasion he observed the poor children tearing 
the meat to pieces with their fingers, and upon 
his asking 'Why they were not provided with 
forks?' he was answered, £ Because the children 
would steal them.' That was in Marylebone 
workhouse. From that time he had made every 
effort to effect an amelioration of the system. 
He was then a guardian of the poor; but all his 
exertions to effect the object he had in view 
were counteracted: he was out-voted — he was 
defeated — and he was almost tired. His next 
step was to petition the Lords and the Commons 
to do away with the system of imprisoning chil- 
dren under sixteen years of age. His petition 
to the Lords was presented by the Bishop of 
Rochester, and that to the Commons by Dr. 
Lushington, and although the matter of the 
petition had, in both Houses, been honoured by 
being made the subject of a discussion, he heard 
nothing more of it. He then put on his uni- 
form, and attended the court of his late Majesty 
William IV., to whom he presented a petition. 
His Majesty graciously received the petition, 
and some short time afterwards his Majesty's 
thanks were conveyed to him through Sir Her- 
bert Taylor, but nothing further was done. He 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 175 

(Capt. Brenton) then wrote and addressed to 
the public no less than seven pamphlets, claim- 
ing the co-operation and assistance of the public 
in effecting his object. But while he was thus 
working to save people from destruction, he was 
seriously opposed by many well-intentioned per- 
sons, and that was by the encouragement they 
gave to vagrancy by giving money to street beg- 
gars. After devoting his attention to the sub- 
ject for more than 23 years, he was convinced, 
and more and more confirmed in his opinion, that 
the money given to street beggars had the effect 
of bribing the labourer from his industrious ha- 
bits. It was astonishing to find to what lengths 
those people would go to excite the commisera- 
tion of the benevolent. He assured the meeting 
that he had himself detected a case where a leg 
was broken in order to effect that object; and he 
had no doubt in one case that blindness had been 
produced for that purpose. He could state from 
authentic sources, that there were no less than 
16,000 vagrants, who earned from 5s. to 30s. a 
day by begging. These facts he was in a condi- 
tion to prove, if necessary. He had, however, 
the satisfaction to state, that he had in a great 
measure stopped this system of vagrancy. On 



176 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

Tuesday last, lie (Captain Brenton) had visited 
Newgate, and had passed two hours in going 
over the prison. There was there a fine child, 
a boy, who was tried for stealing 501; and the 
judge told the child, on his trial, that the only 
salvation he could give him was to send him to 
the hulks. Now he (Capt. Brenton) thought 
that there was no salvation in the hulks. But if 
the child had been intercepted before he got into 
Newgate, and brought to the institution, he was 
convinced that the society would have saved him 
from the destruction which now inevitably awaits 
him. He (Capt. Brenton) did not approve of 
this system of moral extermination employed for 
the reformation of juvenile offenders, as he was 
convinced it was founded on a mistaken prin- 
ciple. It was like the system of conquest and 
civilisation adopted towards the American In- 
dians. In order to conquer, and then to civilise 
them, that unhappy people were exterminated 
by the sword. That was precisely the way in 
which children were now treated. This system 
reminded him of an anecdote he had heard of a 
blacksmith, who was hammering at a horse-shoe. 
Tom/ said he to his little son who was stand- 
ing by, ' I can't harden this iron.' ' Try the 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 177 

horsewhip, father/ answered the boy, 'for you've 
hardened me with it.' Many of the boys en- 
treated him (Ca.pt. Brenton) to send them to 
sea. But he had no means of doing so. He 
wanted no emolument — he had applied for a 
ship, but his request was not granted. What he 
wanted was, to see boys become ornaments of 
their country. Fifteen thousand boys could be 
annually supported on board the ships of the 
navy, and they would be found to be much bet- 
ter seamen and members of society than if they 
had graduated at the prison as their college. 
After mentioning several instances of juvenile 
delinquency, which had come under his observa- 
tion, in all of which the most shocking depravity 
was exhibited, the gallant officer noticed the 
system of education adopted at the schools of 
the institution. In them the children were 
taught their duty to God and their neighbour. 
No bad language was allowed to be used. The 
boys were not overworked, but were allowed 
their pastimes and healthful recreations. They 
were taught agriculture, and, above all, they 
were instructed in religious principles, and 
brought up in strictly religious habits. No 
punishment was resorted to, except that of 



178 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

locking-up ; and such was the gentleness and 
kindness exercised towards them, that they pos- 
sessed no fear — except one, they were afraid of 
displeasing their benefactors. In fine, he chal- 
lenged the closest inspection of their institution, 
feeling confident that the more closely it was 
examined, and the more generally its principles 
and objects were known, the greater would be 
the countenance and support of the public. The 
gallant and philanthropic gentleman concluded 
his speech, which was received throughout with 
repeated applause, by moving the resolution." 

The extract which I insert from the " Times" 
newspaper, of the 23rd of February, 1838, is so 
completely confirmatory of the arguments used 
by my brother, upon the subject of youthful im- 
prisonment, and of the extreme to which this 
wretched system was carried, that its insertion 
here becomes indispensable. The memorandum 
in the diary, for the 25th, will shew how deeply 
the writer felt upon the subject of the increasing 
advocacy in behalf of the poor little sufferers, 
and how earnestly he prayed for a better order 
of things : 

" Mr. Laurie stated, before the Middlesex 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 179 

magistrates, that there were at that time three 
children undergoing the punishment of confine- 
ment in separate cells in the Penitentiary: their 
ages seven, eight, and ten. When the little girl 
of seven years of age was taken to the Peni- 
tentiary, the matron asked her what she could 
do for her, the child replied she should like to 
have a doll. The other two, when the matron 
went to lock them up in bed, were found to have 
made up their clothes into dolls, which they 
were nursing. Now, could it be said by any 
person in his senses, that such children were 
subjects upon whom the exercise of the separa- 
tion system ought to be made? Were not such 
cases sufficient of themselves to wring the hearts 
of all classes of civilized society? But what 
could be expected to result from so accursed a 
system as that of the separation fancy ? 

"The Chairman (Mr. Serjeant Adams) said, 
as far as the cases of the children were con- 
cerned, he lamented to say, there was too much 
truth in the statement which the court had just 
heard. There was a child of seven years and a 
half old only, who in the month of January had 
been sent to the Penitentiary, where she had 
been ever since an inmate of one of the solitary 



180 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

cells of that establishment, of which she was 
likely to remain an inmate for two years more. 
He was at the same time, however, bound to 
say that every attention, so far as it could be 
carried into effect, was shewn to her. The other 
two children, who were somewhere about ten 
years of age, had been the occupants of solitary 
cells for twelve months, and must, in accordance 
with the terms of their sentence, remain so for 
one year more. There was every care taken of 
them, consistently with the rules of the prison. 
Such were the facts, and it was impossible for 
them to be disputed. It was quite manifest to 
any person who spoke to them, that they had 
not been in the habit of holding conversation 
with any person for a considerable length of 
time. 

" Mr. Hoare believed that either that day or 
to-morrow would see these poor children re- 
leased from their confinement; a release for 
which they were indebted to the active exer- 
tions of the learned chairman of that court. 

" Mr. Laurie — Yes, in conjunction with Mr. 
Tulk. To the kindness of these two gentlemen 
was the country indebted for the removal of this 
foul blot from its character. The magistrates, 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 181 

it must be remembered, had no controul over 
the matter ; it was entirely subject to the ma- 
nagement of the Government, and the in- 
spectors, who had their own rickety propositions 
to carry out. If these gentlemen succeeded, it 
was perfectly clear that our gaols would be 
turned into receptacles for lunatics, instead of 
places of punishment for criminals. 

" Mr. Tulk said, with regard to the children 
he had taken a more than ordinary interest, in- 
asmuch as, from enquiries, he was satisfied the 
youngest in particular was an improper object 
for the punishment inflicted on her. The case 
was this: the child had been convicted at Man- 
chester of having stolen certain goods, which the 
mother had received, knowing them to be stolen 
property ; the child, most unaccountably, espe- 
cially too when her years would furnish sufficient 
proof that she could not altogether be aware of 
the nature of the offence, was sentenced to trans- 
portation, while the mother, the receiver, was 
sentenced to six months imprisonment; only the 
sentence upon the child was commuted into im- 
prisonment, under the separation system, in the 
Penitentiary. 

" The chairman said, he did not think he should 



182 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

be betraying confidence if he were to state, that 
with respect to the poor children who had been 
spoken of, a correspondence had taken place be- 
tween the government and himself; from which 
he had reason to believe Lord John Russell was 
at length convinced that the solitary dwellings in 
the Penitentiary were not exactly suited to chil- 
dren of tender years; and he further held a do- 
cument in his hand having attached to it the 
name of ' Victoria/ and bearing also the signature 
of Lord John Russell, from which he hoped 
there was a dawn of a beginning of some im- 
proved alteration in reference to the punishment 
of children, with a view of replacing them in the 
paths of virtue. It at all events induced him to 
suppose that the government was at last brought 
to the conviction, that separate confinement, in 
the Penitentiary, was not the mode best calcu- 
lated of effecting their object. 

"Mr. Broughton, in reference to the statement 
of the worthy magistrate, Mr. Hoare, as to the 
confinement of a prisoner, in America, for 13 
years, would beg to ask whether that party was 
kept in such confinement during the whole 
period? 

"Mr. Hoare. — Yes. The door of the cell 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 183 

for those prisoners was opened for their admis- 
sion when they went in, and they had been there 
13 years before it was again opened to let them 
out." 

To shew how deep an impression was made 
npon his mind by this awful statement, published 
on such irresistible authority, I quote from his 
diary the following earnest prayer, evidently of- 
fered up upon the occasion, as it was written on 
the 25th. 

"Sunday, 2oth Feb. — O most merciful and 
wonderful Lord God, Creator of the Universe; 
when I look back at thy wonderful mercies be- 
stowed upon me and mine, and above all (after 
our redemption) on thy providential care of our 
schools, my brain is inadequate to conceive and 
my tongue to speak thy praises. O Lord God, 
pardon the sins of our rulers for having shut up 
the poor female children in the solitary cells of 
Milbank. Open the doors of the prison-house, 
and let the captives go free. Strengthen the 
hands, and confirm the good resolutions to adopt 
the plan which thy servant has suggested, that 
children be no more sent to prison, but kindly 
and carefully trained up in the knowledge of 
thee their God. And this I humbly beg for 



184 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

Jesus Christ's sake, our blessed Lord and Savi- 
our. Amen." 

As the principal object I had in view in pub- 
lishing the life of my brother, was to advocate 
the cause of the Children's Friend Society, and 
to vindicate his memory and character from the 
charges brought against this institution of which 
he was the founder, I trust I shall be excused 
for having entered so much into detail with re- 
spect to his efforts for its promotion and ex- 
tension; and that a few words relative to the 
charges which, I feel certain, arise rather through 

thoughtlessness than malevolence, opinions 

lightly taken up, and circulated, but at the same 
time most unjust and painful to the truly excel- 
lent men who undertook the management of the 
Institution, and persevered under every discour- 
agement, until their funds became so reduced as 
to render it imperative upon them to dissolve it. 
Where charges are founded upon more than 
questionable authority — upon letters said to have 
been written by characters acknowledged to be 
of the worst description, even by their own rela- 
tives — we should have expected that they would 
have been received with caution, and particularly 
by a respectable magistrate upon the bench, who 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 185 

in commenting upon them must have been aware 
of the sanction which his opinion would give to 
a report to which he seemed to give credit. It 
was not too much to expect that a reference 
would at once have been made to the authorities 
of the district where the grievances complained 
of were said to have taken place. That iniquities 
may abound in our Colonies, as well as in the 
Mother Country, is but too true; but in all there 
are the same means of appeal, and of procuring 
redress. That great vigilance is requisite to 
prevent oppression in those places long accus- 
tomed to slavery, we freely admit, and that the 
Cape boor may be guilty of oppression; but that 
no difficulty whatever exists to prevent an appeal 
is evident by the letters from the young emi- 
grants which have already reached their friends 
in this country. With how much greater facility 
might a complaint have been made to the author- 
ities at Cape Town, to the district magistrates, 
or the members of the Committee, who readily 
and humanely undertook the protection of these 
children on their arrival. That these references 
were made, the petitions heard, and the cases 
investigated, we have abundant proof by the 
documents we propose to offer. Even the Hot- 



186 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

tentot is no longer the oppressed being which he 
was for many years after the Cape became a 
British Colony. The single-handed exertions of 
that excellent man, Dr. Philip, proved that no 
system of tyranny conld be carried on with im- 
punity. The case of the boy Trubshaw shews 
the facility with which complaints might be for- 
warded, as well as fabricated. Soon after his 
return to England, we find him in Newgate, 
where he behaved so ill, and made such exag- 
gerated statements to his fellow-prisoners, that 
the Governor was at last obliged to separate him 
entirely from them. One of the Managers of 
the Children's Friend Society saw him in New- 
gate, in the presence of the Governor and two 
other persons. He prevaricated to that degree, 
that he was asked how he could expect to be be- 
lieved in any one of his statements? to which he 
replied, "Oh! I don't like to speak before so 
many persons, it always confuses me." His fa- 
ther declared, that he was so addicted to lying 
and pilfering, that he sent him to the Cape in 
the hope of getting rid of him for ever. But in 
order effectually to vindicate Captain Brenton 
and his excellent associates from the sweeping 
charges brought against them in the daily papers, 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 187 

and to shew the candour and the energy with 
which they acted under such circumstances, I 
refer the reader to the statements laid before the 
public at the dissolution of the society ; and it will 
from these undoubtedly appear, that every possible 
precaution was taken to secure to the little emi- 
grants all the advantages which the Society had 
in view for them, and to protect them to the 
utmost from the snares and dangers to which 
inexperienced youth must be exposed in any part 
of the world. I will not apologize for the length 
of these documents — they belong to the history 
of my brother, and form his defence against the 
charges brought against him, so injurious to his 
memory and the cause which he so strenuously 
advocated. This correspondence, I feel confident, 
will be read with approbation, and be considered 
valuable, not only for the purpose of vindication, 
but as regarding the subject of emigration in 
general. 

The following letter from Captain Brenton to 
Lord John Russell will shew how long and 
how anxiously he had thought over the state of 
the juvenile poor — how he had made his pro- 
fessional experience available in collecting every 



188 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

argument which he concluded might give weight 
to his opinions, and bring the question in all its 
bearings fairly before the government. It will 
be observed that the range which his ideas took 
upon the subject was of very considerable extent, 
and went far beyond the present relief or even 
the future prospects of this suffering part of the 
community. They had a constant reference to a 
great and national benefit : to the establishing the 
means of an effectual and ready system for man- 
ning the navy. He never for a moment lost 
sight of this most important object, and one so 
intimately connected with the welfare and suc- 
cess of the profession to which he was so fondly 
attached, and which held a very deep interest in 
his heart to the very last day of his life. We 
may indeed say that his very last day was devoted 
to efforts for ensuring the comforts and promot- 
ing the welfare not only of the maritime popula- 
tion of the empire, but in making a provision for 
the widows of such as had lost their husbands 
through the fury of the elements, and enabling 
them to bring up their orphan children in the 
career in which their gallant parent had lost his 
life, in promoting the commerce or in ensuring 
the safety of his country; and that they might 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 189 

be brought up in a well founded confidence, that 
whatever might be their own fate in a profession 
so full of danger, and requiring such a degree of 
intrepidity and enterprise, that a certain pro- 
vision would be made for those dear to them, 
and who might otherwise be plunged in want as 
as well as affliction by their bereavement. 

" To the Right Honourable Lord John Russell. 

"My Lord, — Encouraged by Mr. Mark Phil- 
lips's letter of the 28th instant, in which he says 
that your Lordship will 'give my suggestions 
your best consideration,' I lose no time in laying 
them before you. 

"It is too evident that vice and crime are on 
the increase among the youth of the lower classes, 
while in the middle and upper ranks it is pleasing 
to observe a. strong religious and moral feeling 
making every effort to counteract the fatal con- 
tagion. 

"That reformation of character cannot be ef- 
fectually attained by any penal enactment or 
legal punishment, however severe, has been 
proved by the experience of ages; and all the ex- 
ecutions and floggings through the fleet during 
the late war tended only to disgust the good 



& 



190 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OE 

seamen, and to render the bad ones more reckless 
and desperate. 

"Eight years' experience of the good effects of 
early training and education of children, even of 
the most depraved moral habits and character, 
has established the fact, that mildness, firmness, 
and gentleness will effect that which the terrors 
of the law have failed to do. 

"This demonstration having been made and 
proved by the Children's Friend Society, it now 
only remains by the more general application of 
its system to make it nationally useful, and thus 
to purify that class of the population from which 
our prisons and our convict hulks and penal co- 
lonies derive their victims. 

" In the present instance, I will confine myself 
to the melioration of the condition of our seamen, 
the class of people to which I have been the 
longest attached, and among whom I have passed 
my whole life. 

u By a proper course of training and educating 
of young sailors, I feel convinced that not only 
may revolting punishments be dispensed with, 
but impressment also, that national sin and dis- 
grace, which, where it procures one seaman, de- 
prives the navy of ten, and forfeits the affections 



i 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 191 

of all. Giving a well-trained and a well-edu- 
cated seaman better pay and treatment than he 
can procure elsewhere, will be quite a sufficient 
bulwark against desertion or treachery. Men 
would then seek to enter the navy; and their 
only punishment would be expulsion from our 
ships. Had we done this from the year 1806 to 
1812, we should have saved the expense and 
bloodshed of the last American war. 

"In order therefore to shew how such a class 
of people might be raised up and encouraged, I 
propose, in the first instance to limit my opera- 
tions to the number of 1000 boys; for these I 
should require a three-decked ship, to be moored, 
head and stern, at Blackwall, rigged with light 
masts and yards, to have her sails bent in sum- 
mer, and 16 guns for exercising. 

"Through this ship any boy intended for the 
maritime profession should go; and not less than 
two years' education and training, with a good 
character, should entitle him to enter the sea 
service, naval or mercantile. 

" An institution of this description would be 
at once an auxiliary to the civil and naval power, 
and is indispensably necessary to the completion 
of the system so effectually practised and esta- 
blished at Hackney Wick. 



192 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

"It is an undisputed fact, that the boldest and 
most talented of the uneducated classes are to 
be found at an early age the inmates of our 
prisons and convict hulks; where, confirmed in 
vice and hatred to their country, their next step 
is to a male Colony of desperate villains in a 
distant land, where they will assuredly one day 
repay, with fearful interest, the unmerited suf- 
fering heaped on their early youth by the defect 
or severity of the law. 

"These children it has been my earnest en- 
deavour, for the last eight years, to snatch from 
infamy and destruction; and by saving them, to 
save their country. The cultivation of their 
talents, under kind, vigilant, and skilful instruc- 
tion, would reclaim them; and instead of violaters 
of the law, they would become its firmest sup- 
port. 

" A boy, in good health, of robust frame, 
above ten and under seventeen years of age, 
having by some criminal act forfeited his liberty, 
I should be willing to receive, and to train, 
agreeably to the plan laid down in my letter to 
Sir James Graham, (herewith sent.) 

" I would have the power of punishment, that 
I might be enabled to show how easily and fa- 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 193 

vourably it might be dispensed with. I would 
consent to receive 40 per cent, of such boys, 
30 per cent, from Greenwich Hospital School, 
and 30 per cent, of such volunteers, selected for 
personal prowess and talent, as the Lords Com- 
missioners of the Admiralty would permit. Had 
I been honoured with the command of the Or- 
dinary, as I requested, I could have carried this 
plan into effect, without any additional expense 
to the Government. But in order to be per- 
fectly combined with the civil power, it would 
still be necessary to have a ship at Blackwall. 
Desertion would be of rare occurrence, after a 
few months' trial. Early association, kind treat- 
ment, the remembrance of happy days and plea- 
sant companions, are among the strongest ties to 
our country and kin. The prospective advan- 
tages daily accruing and increasing in value, with 
a certain provision for age and misfortune, would 
combine to take an irresistible hold on the mind, 
and bind the youth to his country with chains 
stronger than any ever forged by art or put on 
by impolicy. 

" I have the honour to be, &e. 

"Edward Pelham Brenton. 

" March 30th, 1838." 



194 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

We know that Captain Brenton made repeated 
applications to have a ship appropriated to re- 
ceiving destitute boys, and bringing them up to 
the sea in the same manner as those on board 
the Marine Society's ship, in which he was 
anxious to make the experiment of his long- 
cherished plan for rescuing the unhappy juvenile 
poor from their degraded state, and bringing 
them up as a valuable portion of our sea-faring 
population. 

Should it be asked why, with the existing 
institution of the Marine Society, another should 
be required, we answer, that from the circum- 
stance of long-proved utility and excellence of 
that establishment, it becomes of the utmost im- 
portance that others should be established; and 
we earnestly wish that every port in the empire 
had its Marine Society's ship, and its sailor's 
home; but, taxed as the benevolent portion of 
society is already, by the innumerable demands 
upon it for charities of every description, we 
must not expect to derive the necessary re- 
sources from public subscription, and we can- 
not but think the speculation of Government 
making the experiment, a very sober and rea- 
sonable one, particularly when it must be evident 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 195 

that the expense to be incurred in a work of so 
much real benevolence will be in a great measure 
refunded by the diminution of prison expenses 
and transportations. We cannot help thinking 
that the employment of a few thousand pounds 
in such an object would not only have been jus- 
tifiable, but praiseworthy, and, moreover, would 
have been the very last pecuniary measure the 
propriety of which would have been questioned. 

How far the above application in favour of 
poor boys was expedient or justifiable, may be 
seen by the accounts with which our daily pa- 
pers are filled, of the atrocities committed by 
youthful depredators. If children are thus early 
initiated and rendered familiar with vice and 
crime, as well as with the interior of prisons, and 
all their concomitant horrors, how can we be sur- 
prised, if at the age of manhood they should be- 
come so expert in iniquity, and so inimical to 
the peace and welfare of the county, of which, 
under a different mode of early instruction, they 
might have become its defenders, and the pro- 
moters of its best interests. 

In order to shew the intimate connexion be- 
tween the system of education proposed by 
Captain Brenton for the juvenile poor, and the 



196 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

means of manning the navy, we shall offer a few 
remarks upon the system of impressment, which 
must, before long, demand the most serious atten- 
tion of our legislators, and perhaps be abolished 
by the mere force of general opinion before any 
other means are adopted or can be adopted to 
man our fleets. We are bound in candour to ad- 
mit that very great exertions have been made by 
successive administrations and Boards of Admi- 
ralty to improve the situation of our seamen, to 
meet their wishes, to promote their comfort, and 
to make a provision for them when no longer 
capable of serving, and we hope and believe that 
this anxiety for their welfare has not been lost 
upon them. Sir James Graham's bill has cor- 
rected many of the inconveniences to which the 
service was exposed in raising men, and must 
operate most favourably towards those who nobly 
step forward at the first outbreak of hostilities. 
We hope to see the day when the seaman who 
by long and faithful services has become possessed 
of a well-earned pension, shall continue to enjoy 
it, in addition to his pay when serving afloat in 
the navy. To some the supposed enormous ex- 
pense attending such a measure is an insuperable 
objection. We say supposed, because it is a fact 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 197 

that little if any additional expense would be in- 
curred, for the pensioned seaman now, aware 
that he would be deprived of his pension should 
he enter the navy, turns aside to the merchant 
service, where he can get higher pay, and retain 
his pension ; whilst the man who enters the navy 
in his room obtains the pay he would have re- 
ceived, and consequently both pay and pension 
are still paid by the state. 

We believe that the regulations made from 
time to time for the mitigation of punishment 
have had the happiest effects, not only as to the 
seamen, but they have relieved the captain from 
a very heavy degree of responsibility and acute- 
ness of feeling. The frequency with which the 
men are now paid their wages abroad, has, we 
believe, been attended with the very best results. 
The seamen have learned the proper value of 
money, and made their wages to contribute to 
their comforts in detail, instead of being lavished 
away in the mass at the end of a foreign station, 
in the most disgusting profligacy and reckless 
extravagance. This measure which we once 
thought might be injurious to the navy, we are 
brought to consider a most salutary one. It is 
an appeal to the reason of the sailor, and to place 



198 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

him on a much higher footing than that on which 
he formerly stood, and when his conduct on shore 
justified the appellation given to him of being a 
child of a larger growth. The well filled chest 
of clothes, and the comfortable, abundantly sup- 
plied mess, are becoming the distinctive marks 
of regular bred seamen; and they now begin to 
take that pride in their daily welfare which was 
formerly confined to the display of extravagance 
on the paying off day. 

Captain Brenton when touching upon this 
subject says: "The Government has listened 
with attention to every suggestion, and many 
have been offered with the hopes of dispensing 
with the necessity of impressment; but after the 
most anxious investigation it has only been 
enabled to alleviate the evil which it could not 
cure. Increase of provisions and pay was granted, 
equal to the demands of the seamen themselves; 
since which pensions have been gratuitously of- 
fered to merit and long service. Greenwich 
Hospital which, since the reign of William III., 
has been the asylum of those worn out in the ser- 
vice of the country, or incapacitated from labour 
by wounds or disease, has been improved in its 
establishment, consolidated with the Chest of 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 199 

Chatham, and rendered a comfortable retirement. 
The out-pension provides for those who prefer 
remaining with their families, or who cannot, for 
want of room be admitted into the house. The 
severity of punishment afloat has been mitigated, 
and every restriction imposed upon the captain 
to prevent the infliction, compatible with dis- 
cipline and the existence of the navy; and let it 
be remembered that when the mutiny took 
place in 1797, no complaint was made by the 
delegates on this subject, nor of impressment — 
a proof that neither was considered as an in- 
tolerable grievance. As a proof also that the 
sailors themselves are aware of the necessity of 
strict discipline, the punishments inflicted by 
the delegates, during the mutiny, for neglect of 
duty, drunkenness, and insolence to their officers, 
exceeded any thing usually ordered by the cap- 
tains on such occasions." 

But the most conclusive arguments against the 
deplorable system of impressment is that con- 
tained in the work of Rear- Admiral Griffiths 
upon this subject. He fully displays all its evils, 
but he acknowledges his inability to point out an 
efficient substitute for manning the Navy. If any 
could have been found under the existing order of 



200 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

things, we believe lie is the man who would have 
discovered it; and his not having done so, impels 
us to the conclusion that it is irremediable by any- 
other means than educating children for the ex- 
press purpose to supply the demands of the Navy; 
and we repeat, that great as the expense might be, 
(and it certainly would be great,) there are very 
many circumstances which will largely contribute 
towards defraying it. In addition to those already 
stated, I would mention the impress service, the 
cost of which, when the various rendezvous, 
officers, press-gangs, tenders, &c, are taken into 
calculation, amounted during the late war to an 
enormous sum, besides keeping out of the navy 
a great many useful hands, even prime seamen, 
and placing them in situations sure to corrupt 
and ruin them. 

The professional ardour of Captain Brenton 
led him to view the subject of manning the Navy 
with intense interest, and attentively to consider 
in what way it might be best effected. Although 
he always admitted impressment to be indis- 
pensable under existing circumstances, and to be 
justified only by stern necessity, when the safety 
of the country might be compromised by the 
want of a sufficient naval force; his efforts in 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 201 

behalf of the juvenile poor led him to see a 
prospect of making, from the redundant and 
destitute portion of the population of our large 
cities and seaport towns, a nursery from which 
not only the mercantile marine, but the Royal 
Navy itself might derive such liberal supplies as 
might in time enable the Government to dispense 
with a system which pressed so hard upon the 
most laborious part of our fellow-subjects, and 
which is attended with so much positive suffering 
and hardship. It was not, however, by clearing 
our prisons of the adult criminal, and transfer- 
ring them to our ships of war, a practice far too 
common, until put a stop to with a firm hand by 
Lord Melville, in the late war; but he proposed 
that we should avail ourselves of the opportunity 
of the numerous children among the destitute 
families of the poor, collecting them at an early 
age in ships provided for their reception in 
all our great seaports, and by religious and use- 
ful education, to train them, by degrees, for the 
naval or merchant services. It may be readily 
supposed that no compulsion was intended, but 
the will of the child should be indispensable to 
his being received — that all should be volunteers. 
Nor can any doubt be entertained but that more 



202 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

than sufficient numbers would be found for this 
purpose. The sea is the Briton's element. There 
is almost an universal fondness amongst children 
for a life which possesses so many charms and so 
much excitement to the young. This is quite 
evident to all who reside in a seaport, and observe 
the prevailing habits of the children, and the de- 
light with which they enter into sea-faring occu- 
pations — a boat in a surf, or in a gale, has all the 
charms for them, that a spirited horse has for the 
young landsman — and the boy who has returned 
from his first voyage is the envy of all his 
younger companions who eagerly look forward to 
the period when they also may have to relate the 
wonders of the deep. 

The first suggestion of such an establishment 
as here proposed may be calculated to startle the 
reader, and appear visionary and impracticable, 
but should not be abandoned lightly. It is really 
worth the serious consideration of a people whose 
great national dependence is upon the strength 
of their sea-faring population. The first and 
most appalling objection which presents itself is 
the expense it would entail upon the country. 
It would undoubtedly be heavy, should the es- 
tablishment be of a nature to afford a permanent 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 203 

supply to our navy, so as to render the abolition of 
impressment a prudent as well as a just measure. 
Great indeed must be the necessity by which these 
two qualities should be ever rendered incompatible 
with each other. We can scarcely reconcile our- 
selves to the possibility that such a necessity 
should exist even for self defence. At all events, 
it becomes an imperative duty upon us as a na- 
tion, to take every measure to prevent it. But 
let us proceed with the consideration of the 
expense of the system suggested, which will 
certainly be great. We must have large ships 
in each of our ports for the reception of the 
boys. We must have officers to superintend 
them — warrant officers to instruct them — they 
must have food, and raiment, and bedding — they 
must have medical attendants and hospitals, and 
a portion of naval stores for their use while un- 
dergoing instruction. All this is true; but there 
is a considerable set off to be made for the other 
side of the question. Say 20,000, or I would 
rather say 30,000 children, from ten years of age 
and upwards, were received from the distressed 
families of the starving poor in London, and the 
sea-ports, to say nothing of the inland parts of 
the country. And thus taken care of, nourished, 



204 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

and preserved in health and strength of body and 
mind, how many of these poor children would 
but for such an asylum be supported at the public 
charge by the still more expensive machinery of 
prisons and workhouses — be transplanted to ano- 
ther hemisphere, from crimes committed against 
society. Here we have not only to ■ meet the 
expense of all these establishments, but to suffer 
in addition the amount of loss pillaged from so- 
ciety by the youthful depredators; and with 
respect to the prisons, the workhouses, and other 
parts of the penal establishments, it must be 
remembered that they can only be got up at the 
highest prices. Government never can either 
build or buy but at the highest rate; a reference 
to the cost of public buildings will prove this 
assertion to be correct. Nor are the employers 
who are set over the poor and the criminal the 
worst paid men in England. Now let us advert 
to the cost of our proposed establishments afloat. 
We have allowed that they must be considerable, 
but there are many deductions to be made from 
the general estimate. In the first place, we have 
many large ships applicable to this purpose, and 
required for no other. An effectual repair to the 
bottom, and a certain quantity of paint and tar for 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 205 

the other parts of the vessel, with chain moorings, 
would prevent any further necessity for repair 
for several years: and then the material, such as 
masts, rigging, boats, &c, the worn or sprung- 
masts of the ships-of-war, no longer fit for sea- 
service, would be all that would be required; the 
rope — that also condemned as unfit, or made by 
the boys themselves in the course of their instruc- 
tion; the boats of a similar description, in point 
of value, and to be repaired when required, and 
others even built for their future use, by the 
vessel requiring them. The provisions, alone, 
should be of the best kind, and a liberal allow- 
ance given. Here we would allow of no false 
economy, which is certain of proving extrava- 
gance in the end. The clothing, it is true, might 
be of an inferior quality, and made from the 
return bales from our ships-of-war: they, also, 
should be home made. With respect to the 
officers of the establishment, and their assistants, 
they are always to be had, and of the right sort. 
Half-pay officers, with a small addition to their 
income, their provisions, and their dwelling be- 
ing provided for them, would find the appoint- 
ment a most comfortable acquisition. One 
lieutenant, a chaplain, a surgeon, a purser, boat- 



206 



SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 



swain, gunner, and carpenter — all that would be 
necessary — and a crew of ten men to superin- 
tend and instruct the subdivisions of boys, might 
complete the establishment. Such is the plan I 
should presume to suggest, and such I knew 
would have been my brother's views, had he 
lived to see a probability of his proposals being 
adopted. I foresee many objections which might 
be made, not only by the Government, on the 
score of expense, and doubt of expediency, but 
from my brother-officers: and the first that pre- 
sents itself is : " Shall this, then, be the founda- 
tion of our navy ? Shall we have recourse to 
the dregs of the population for our supply of 
British seamen ?" By no means : the plan sug- 
gested is to obviate the direful necessity of im- 
pressment. We shall look to our men-of-war 
and our merchants for volunteers, and hope the 
day is not far off when they will be crowding 
into the service, and vying with each other who 
shall be the first to enter on board a ship ordered 
for commission. We trust Sir James Graham's 
Act will do much, and that it will be followed 
up by the farther indulgence of allowing these 
men who have obtained pensions for their long 
and faithful services, being permitted to retain 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 207 

them, whether employed in the navy or the 
merchant service. As to the system of dis- 
cipline, it has, we repeat, been so mnch im- 
proved, and so much attention is now paid to 
the situation and the comforts of the seaman, 
that we doubt if they themselves could suggest 
any alteration from which they could derive a 
benefit. And of this we may be certain, that 
when impressment ceases, desertion will cease 
also : we shall hear no more of it : and what a 
blessing would this be to the country ! In time 
of peace, such of our seamen as might not find 
employment at home, might, it is true, be in- 
duced to enter the service of other nations; but 
if no impressment existed, they would return at 
the first rumour of war, and join heart and hand 
in the prosecution of it. 

As I knew my brother's views upon this mo- 
mentous and all-engrossing subject had not been 
entirely formed, and that he has left but little in 
writing to what he intended, and as we entirely 
accorded in the importance of rescuing the 
youthful poor from vice, and making them va- 
luable subjects, I have stated my own sentiments, 
and offer such suggestions as have occurred to 
me upon this most important question. 



208 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OP 

I believe the great utility of our hospitals will 
be questioned by none, nor can there be any dif- 
ference of opinion entertained as to what would 
be the extent of misery and suffering, but for the 
energy and the liberality by which they have 
been raised and supported. It is scarcely pos- 
sible to contemplate, without horror, the state 
of wretchedness and infection which would be 
found in all our large towns without them, and 
how fearful would be the increase of mortality, 
but for the ready and effectual aid they offer to 
the suffering poor! The same arguments, how- 
ever, which are now urged against the charitable 
institations proposed by Captain Brenton for the 
youthful families of the poor, with regard to the 
expense, would have applied in a much greater 
degree to the first establishment of hospitals, 
had not the necessity been so obviously proved 
from the personal danger of immediate infection. 
But if we take into consideration the amount of 
moral infection now pervading the multitudes 
herding together in the thickly inhabited cities 
of the empire, the growth of vice and crime, the 
expenses incurred for keeping this daily increas- 
ing portion of our population within such limits 
as may prevent the destruction of society — the 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 209 

amazing loss of property annually carried off by 
robbery and fraud — the cost of prisons and penal 
settlements — of transportation, or other processes 
of punishment and precaution, we must feel and 
acknowledge that the importance of providing 
against the effects of youthful depravity, so rapid 
in its growth, and so dreadful in its effects, is not 
of less moment than precautions against the most 
malignant and inveterate cholera that could invade 
our land. In the case of hospitals every item of the 
cost must unavoidably be of the most expensive 
description. A fair amount of remuneration to 
the medical officer to compensate for the expense 
of his education and the devotion of his time, 
talent, and health to this most arduous of all 
employments — the expense of drugs — of food of 
the best quality, so indispensable to the conva- 
lescent — the hire of attendants — the enormous 
sums required for the buildings and the repairs — 
and all this outlay without any return, except 
the recovery of the patient, too often restored to 
a partial state of health only, and who returning 
to his place in society, finds it occupied and him- 
self an outcast. Invaluable as such institutions 
undoubtedly are, those by which multitudes may 
be rescued from moral infection may be considered 

p 



210 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

of paramount importance, whilst much that is re- 
quired for their establishment we have already in 
hand, lying unemployed. We have ships in ordi- 
nary — vessels which by being inhabited would be 
preserved; officers like the vessels, who, worn 
out, and unfit for sea service, are fully adequate 
to the duties required for the care of youth, in the 
exercise of which they would find occupation and 
comfort for themselves and families; and the ob- 
jects for whom the establishment is intended, 
instead of being turned out, helpless and unpro- 
vided for, as must unavoidably be the case in so 
many instances with the discharged patient from 
the hospital, may after a few years, say three 
only, devoted to gaining instruction for the line 
of life he is intended for, go forth to the exercise 
of an employment of vital importance to their 
country, and in which they may become the in- 
struments of abolishing a system which has been 
so much reprobated, so much deplored, and at 
the same time almost universally admitted to be 
indispensable, we mean that of impressment. 
Having thus stated what I believe to have been 
my brother's views upon this subject as well as 
my own, I shall proceed to give such of his ob- 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 211 

servationfi connectecj with it as I can find among 
his papers. He says — 

"The loss of Mr. Buckingham's motion on 
impressment should not discourage him, and I 
have reason to know that it will not. I am for 
retaining the power to impress seamen, while I 
am preparing the way to dispense with its appli- 
cation. Impressment, as a means of manning our 
fleets, will probably never succeed again. I have 
seen enough of its effects both in the king's and 
merchants' service to be convinced that it is 
ruinous to both. Still, the powers of impress- 
ment and corporal punishment may not be safely 
removed from the hands in which they have been 
deposited: only let the officers holding the sacred 
trusts use them with the very utmost degree of 
caution and moderation, until by a better order of 
things a superior class of volunteers is raised and 
trained up for the naval and merchant service. 

u Much has been done to improve the condi- 
tion of sailors in the king's service since the 
peace, but much remains to do. We require an 
entire new set of men whose habits and manners 
shall be formed in early youth on the very best 
principles of temperance, self-government and 
obedience, prudent foresight, qualities by no 



212 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

means incompatible with valour and the higher 
walks of heroism. Blake, Benbow, Shovel, 
Howe, St. Vincent, Duncan, Nelson, Colling- 
wood, Cook, cum multis aliis, were all temperate 
men. Some of them sprang from before the 
mast; and I have ever observed in the navy that 
the greater the man, the less he liked to see the 
infliction of punishment. 

"Some of the finest, the most noble spirited 
youths' of Great Britain are lost in early life by 
an unfortunate display of those talents and that 
valour in a bad cause which should be watched 
and directed to worthy objects. When we see a 
man calmly meeting death, or enduring the se- 
verest punishments known to our civil or martial 
laws, we ought to reflect with deep humility that 
a good education was only wanting to make that 
man (perhaps) superior to his judges: his lot in 
life was cast among those who neglected or who 
knew not how to train him ; perhaps the dram 
glass was applied to his infant lips, or the breast 
that he sucked was polluted with gin; perhaps a 
workhouse education and the worst associates 
gave the fatal bias to his character. Thurtel, 
the murderer, owed not his crimes to himself. 
Had that unfortunate man been educated and 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 213 

trained under the system which I now so ear- 
nestly recommend, he might still have been in the 
world, a great leader in the senate or in the 
field. I sat fourteen hours one day, and eight 
hours the day following, to witness his trial, and 
came to the inevitable conclusion that he was 
qualified to be a hero, but lost from the negli- 
gence and false system under which he fell in 
early life. The same may be said of Parker, 
the mutineer, and many others, whose unhappy 
exit it has been my duty to attend and record in 
the naval history of my country. Why then do 
we consign our youth to the care of people ut- 
terly incompetent to the charge? Why send 
them to prisons and hulks, to dungeons, to be 
accomplished in vices, whose fruit is crime, and 
whose punishment ignominy and death? Is it to 
deter by the terror of example ? Behold the in- 
crease of crime. Is it for economy? Behold I 
can educate your child for one-tenth part of the 
sum which his imprisonment and plunder will 
cost to the public. There is a passion implanted 
in the human heart by the wise Creator, which 
we never think of cultivating, but, on the con- 
trary, allow to be eradicated, and seek to supply 
its place with bodily torture. I mean shame. It 



214 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

was the first feeling of our first parents, after 
the fall; and it pleased the Almighty to supply 
a remedy to the wounded feeling. With us this 
amiable passion is soon lost; and the degraded 
character of the poor who live in large towns, 
but too strongly attests the fact. The conduct 
of soldiers and sailors in our sea-ports, or when 
on service, offers another illustration. The dis r 
graceful and abandoned scenes in a ship of war, 
when returned from a foreign station, must shock 
every friend to modesty, to decency, and to Chris- 
tianity. If we wish to save our country, this 
must be altered. 

"The most jealous and sensitive among the 
aristocracy need not be afraid of me or my doc- 
trines. I am more highly conservative, and at 
the same time more thoroughly radical, than any 
of the most complete ultras of either party. I 
wish to uphold and to reform at the same time; 
and it will be impossible to accomplish these ob- 
jects without the hearty concurrence of the rich 
and poor — from the king to the lowest of his 
subjects; and there is a sense of justice and love 
of mercy widely spreading over the world, and 
over this country in particular, which gives me 
reason to hope that the accomplishment of my 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 215 

plan is at no great distance. Apathy and indif- 
ference I can despise; but even opposition itself 
is fast falling before patience, perseverance, and 
occular demonstration. If it were not so, what 
can we expect but increase of crime, when cause 
and effect mutually produce each other. The 
more committals to prison, the greater number 
of delinquents; ergo, the more prisons will be 
required. Increase of appetite doth grow on 
what it feeds." 

The annexed very flattering testimony of the 
approbation of His late Majesty, as to the 
manner in which Captain Brenton's time and 
attention were occupied, was very grateful to his 
feelings, and greatly encouraged him to perse- 
vere in his endeavours to improve the condition 
of the younger portion of the working classes. 

"St. James's, Nov. 6, 1830. 

"Sir, — I have been honoured with His Ma- 
jesty's commands to acknowledge the receipt of 
your letter of the 3rd inst., with the two accom- 
panying pamphlets. It was observed by His 
Majesty, that your time and attention have been 
usefully devoted to measures tending to the 



216 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

Suppression of Mendicity and Juvenile Va- 
grancy. 

" I have the honour to be, Sir, 
"Your most obedient Servant, 

"J. Hayton. 

"Captain Brenton, R. N., 

"18, York Street, Gloucester Place." 

The accompanying letter from Sir John Con- 
roy, written by command of Her Royal Highness 
the Duchess of Kent, must have been highly 
gratifying to the members of the Children's 
Friend Society, and to Captain Brenton in par- 
ticular, from the approbation bestowed from so 
high a quarter. It will be seen that, upon the 
establishment of a school for female children, 
which took place soon afterwards at Chiswick, 
through the good offices of the Duchess of 
Kent, it was permitted to assume the name of 
"The Royal Victoria Asylum." 

"Kensington Palace, 12th March, 1832. 

" Sir, — The Duchess of Kent, adverting to 
your communications with Her Royal Highness 
relative to Juvenile Offenders in London, desires 
me to acquaint you, that the interest Her Royal 
Highness then took continues unabated. Her 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 217 

Royal Highness sees with satisfaction you have 
been able to mature the plan then in agitation, 
which Her Royal Highness trusts may find the 
support it so well deserves; and to aid which 
Her Royal Highness desires me to forward you 
Twenty-five Pounds. 

"I have the honour to be, Sir, 

"Your most obedient, humble servant, 

"John Conroy. 

"Captain Brenton." 

The following observations were written in 
the visitors' book at our asylum, Hackney: 

" As the quantity of good internally working 
in any government may be unerringly known by 
the quantity of force externally exhibited, it can- 
not be but this must be one of the best: 
within these walls is a mystery well worth the 
study of any man: here is the most strict moral 
government, and the most abandoned conform to 
it ; here all have liberty, and none fly from it; 
here they never strike a blow, and none rebel." 

A French gentleman, an inspector of prisons, 
also recorded his opinion in the following marked 
manner : 

"H est a desirer que le Gouvernement Anglais 
encourage cet etablissement par tous les moyens 
possibles." 



218 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

I readily admit, that in inserting these nume- 
rous letters and documents found amongst my 
brother's papers, I have greatly exceeded the 
limits I had intended to confine myself to, but I 
could not consistently abridge them, without 
doing injustice to the subject I had undertaken, 
and the cause he had so warmly and so conscien- 
tiously advocated. I do not deny that he may 
have been over sanguine in his views, or that he 
may have appeared, in the eyes of many, to have 
been enthusiastic or Utopian in his ardent en- 
deavours to promote the welfare of his fellow- 
creatures and his country; but should his efforts 
be blessed by effectually rescuing even a small 
portion of our youthful poor from the misery 
and degradation in which they were living, his 
end will have been answered. My object is to 
bring the subject fairly before the public, and 
to vindicate his conduct from the charges so 
thoughtlessly brought against it, by an appeal to 
the dispassionate judgment of the reader. More 
than two years have now elapsed since these 
charges were made; and had there been any 
foundation for them, they must have been long 
since confirmed. The contrary, however, has 
been the case. By a reference to the papers 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 219 

published by the Society, previously to its disso- 
lution, it will be seen that amongst the whole of 
the children sent out to the Colonies, the com- 
plaints made against them are inconceivably few, 
particularly when we take into consideration the 
sources from whence they came, and the manner 
in which their infancy had been past. 

It is with much delight that I have been in- 
formed by the Secretary of the Society that 
there is every prospect of its being re-established 
upon a large scale in England, under its original 
and truly benevolent and patriotic managers. 
Here it may be visited and inspected not only 
by those who advocate it, but by such as may 
doubt its expediency. Here the children of the 
destitute may find shelter, food, instruction, and 
employment — may be trained up in the purest 
principles of vital Christianity — and be made, 
by God's blessing, valuable members of society 
either at home or in our Colonies — instead of 
being outcasts, or burdens upon it. 

The Secretary adds: "A gentleman, whose 
name has not transpired, has offered <£500 to 
Mr. Maubert, should the Society be continued, 
and will, I doubt not, grant it whenever the 
Committee are prepared to admit children on 



220 SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

the farm." The letter is dated 16th July, 1841. 

The known philanthropy of Captain Brenton, 
and the energy with which he had pursued his 
researches into the causes of the misery of the 
lower classes, led undoubtedly to his being called 
before a Committee of the House of Commons, 
upon the subject of the Temperance Societies, 
and to a long examination, which he went 
through upon the occasion, and which will be 
found at great length in the published detail of 
evidence. All must acknowledge the soundness 
of his judgment in attributing to intemperance 
the greater part, indeed nearly all the offences 
committed on board of ships. The judicious 
conduct of the late Captain Sir John Phillemore 
led to a very wise reduction in the quantity of 
spirits issued to the seamen; but the subsequent 
regulation of the imperial gallon has increased 
the allowance to a very injurious amount. 

The reader of Captain Brenton's evidence, 
which is too long to introduce here, will ob- 
serve that questions were put to him in every 
possible way, and that the answers they elicited 
proved, in the most convincing manner, that 
intoxication was the besetting sin of seamen, 
whether in the navy or merchant service; and 



JUVENILE VAGRANCY. 221 

that the accidents, as well as the crimes to which 
they were so frequently the victims, might in 
general be traced to that cause. That could a 
system of temperance be promoted, we should 
have fewer losses, and much fewer punishments; 
indeed, were sober habits generally prevalent, 
we might look for the total abolition of all cor- 
poral punishment, "the infliction of which," as 
Captain Brenton emphatically observes, "is by 
far the most painful — it may be said the only 
painful — part of a commander's duty." He also 
set forth at considerable length, and with pecu- 
liar accuracy, the number of vessels of war, and 
of the merchant service, which had been de- 
stroyed in consequence of a prodigal use of 
spirituous liquors, or carelessness in the ma- 
nagement of them, very forcibly proving that 
more ships have been destroyed by the misuse 
of spirits than by gunpowder. — See answer to 
question 3907, p. 425, or, we should rather say, 
read the whole evidence brought before the 
Committee upon this momentous subject. 



NAVAL HISTORY. 



It has already been observed, that the character 
and conduct of Captain Brenton was peculiarly 
active and energetic. His mind was continually 
at work; and, from his early youth, he mani- 
fested a lively interest in the profession he had 
chosen. Its prosperity was his great object, and 
the subject of his incessant solicitude. As a 
lieutenant, and in command, he was indefatigable 
in his endeavours to inspire his young people 
with the same ardour and zeal in its cause that 
he felt himself. Every thing connected with the 
improvement of the naval service attracted his 
attention, and called forth his exertions. Em- 
ployment was essential to him — it may be said 
to have been indispensable. No period of his 



NAVAL HISTORY. 223 

life was passed in idleness. On retiring from 
active service, at the peace in 1815, lie began 
his ' Naval History;' and his principal motive 
for such an undertaking was the instruction of 
those who were beginning their career in the 
royal navy; to give them the advantage of his 
experience, and to point out to them examples 
for their imitation, or to put them on their guard 
against the consequences which are sure to re- 
sult, at one time or another, to the individual or 
to the service, from the want of judgment and 
the due exercise of forethought. 

How far he may have succeeded in the at- 
tainment of this most important object, is for 
the public to judge. The work is now before 
the public, and has passed through two editions. 
We know that it has excited the disapprobation 
of many of his brother officers. We lament that 
it should be the case; but such a result was un- 
avoidable, in the relation of recent events, when 
not only the relatives of those engaged in them, 
but the greater number of the actors themselves, 
were living, to criticise, if not to impugn, the 
statements in which they were so deeply inte- 
rested. I can assert, however, with the fullest 
confidence, that in no one instance where censure 



224 NAVAL HISTORY. 

was implied, was the writer influenced by any 
unkind or personal feeling: when the glory of 
his country, or the reputation of the profession 
with which he had so completely identified him- 
self from childhood, appeared to be at stake, he 
felt deeply, and expressed himself warmly, whe- 
ther in conversation or in writing, nor could his 
thoughts or sentiments upon such a subject be 
easily controuled or repressed; and we must 
further observe, that however he may have 
given offence in his narrative, few have ques- 
tioned his accuracy. The work was undoubtedly 
written in the bold, uncompromising spirit of an 
impartial historian, who had counted the cost of 
the undertaking, and who looked to posterity 
for the justice which he could scarcely expect 
from all his contemporaries. The day has al- 
ready arrived when much of this wounded feel- 
ing has been softened down, and when other 
works upon the same subject have been pub- 
lished, containing far more severe and cutting 
animadversions than any that can be found in 
the pages of Brenton's ' Naval History.' Hav- 
ing said thus much, I confidently leave the 
work to the fair and unbiassed judgment of the 
candid reader. My observations upon this sub- 



NAVAL HISTORY. 225 

ject would have terminated here, but that I feel 
called upon to come forward in defence of my 
brother's character, and regard to his memory, 
and to vindicate him from the sweeping censures 
passed upon him by a contemporary (and I re- 
gret to say a rival) historian, and a Quarterly 
Reviewer. 

That this vindication will lead to a consider- 
able length, I am quite aware ; but I hope that 
it will be given with such a total absence of 
every acrimonious or unkind feeling; that if it 
should fail of convincing, it will not offend. 

Captain Brenton has, I know, been accused 
of presumption in attempting to write a naval 
history, for which, it is asserted, a previous edu- 
cation had not qualified him. This charge may 
be just, and was anticipated; the deficiency ac- 
knowledged, and the motive explained by him- 
self, in his preface, in so straightforward and 
ingenuous a manner, that it has undoubtedly 
obtained for him the indulgence which he sought. 
The defects of composition may be great, but 
the statement of facts I believe to be unobjec- 
tionable. He says in his preface: 

" From my first entrance in the service in 
1788, to my resigning the command of the 

Q 



226 NAVAL HISTORY. 

Tonnant in 1815, I have been constantly in the 
habit of making memoranda of every public 
event which came under my notice, and of taking 
sketches of any port in which I have let go an 
anchor. 

Si Shipwreck, in 1798, deprived me of a collec- 
tion of nine years; but youth and carelessness 
soon effaced the accident from my memory, and 
I began again to replenish my sketch-books, and 
to note down observations; not, however, with a 
view of publishing, but merely for the amuse- 
ment of myself and friends in the leisure of 
peace and retirement. 

" Having by these means, in my professional 
avocations and voyages, collected a stock of 
materials, it was suggested by a near relative, 
that as the vast field of naval history lay unoc- 
cupied by any professional author, I might em- 
ploy myself while on half pay in a manner useful 
to myself and the public, by arranging my lite- 
rary labours in the form in which they are now, 
with diffidence, presented to the world. 

" For three years and a half I have been un- 
remittingly employed in the work; the vast va- 
riety and magnitude of the subjects which have 
attracted attention I have endeavoured to con- 



NAVAL HISTORY. 227 

dense, but not to abridge. Many of the facts 
have no doubt appeared before, in various shapes, 
and I have borrowed freely from the ' Annual 
Registers/ and other authentic and valuable 
works, without attempting to conceal the sources 
of my information." 

He adds the following very just observations 
upon the importance of the duties which a cap- 
tain in the British Navy is called upon to exe- 
cute; and they are well deserving the earnest 
attention of those who enter the service in the 
hope and prospect of attaining the command of 
a ship. A great and beneficial change has taken 
place in the pursuits of officers of the navy 
within the last few years. The late Lord 
Keith, when commanding the fleet in the Medi- 
terranean, was in the habit of saying that the 
lieutenants of the navy would read nothing but 
1 Steel's List' (the list of the navy); but this is 
no longer the case. They may now, in most 
instances, be considered as reading and even as 
scientific men; and to them as such we confidently 
appeal, as to the propriety of the observations 
alluded to; they are as follow: 

" There is perhaps no situation under any go- 
vernment which involves in itself more respon- 



228 NAVAL HISTORY. 

sibility than that of captain of a ship-of-war: 
a match, which by his command is applied to a 
gun, may, for aught he knows, be the instru- 
ment of destruction to thousands of his fellow- 
creatures. The Leopard and Chesapeake, the 
President and the Little Belt, and the me- 
morable shot fired from the Leander, which 
was said to have killed John Pierce, are suffi- 
cient illustrations of this proposition. A naval 
officer therefore can never be made too sensible 
of the importance of his trust, and of the de- 
sirable union in his breast of courage and for- 
bearance; and if to practical skill and valour he 
can add political foresight, it is impossible to say 
of how much importance he may one day be- 
come to society. 

" Much more may be required of our future 
navy than what has fallen to our lot to witness. 
' Great as our achievements have been,' says 
Lord Exmouth, in a letter which his lordship 
addressed to me on the subject of this work, 
'they will be far surpassed by our successors :' 
a prediction which, if not verified, the nation is 
lost; for, without disrespect to the memory of 
the gallant admirals (and gallant they certainly 
were) who commanded our fleets on those oc- 



NAVAL HISTORY. 229 

casions, we must see no more of such battles as 
the 1st of June (1794), nor of the 28rd of June 
(1795), nor that of the 13th July, of the same 
year, in the Mediterranean. The eyes of the 
public are now opened, and they are better able 
to judge of the merit of a naval action, and of 
its political consequences, than they were in the 
days of Keppel and Rodney."* 

There is, undoubtedly, much sound reasoning 
in these extracts, but they may, at the same 
time, appear to cast a shade over other parts 
of the history of the British Navy. It is un- 
deniable that the splendour of many of the 
victories gained by our fleets in the two last 
wars, and especially those achieved by the im- 
mortal Nelson, did raise the standard of the ex- 
pectations of the country so high, that no drawn 
battles, or questionable actions, will satisfy them 
in future; and the great and crowning event of 
all — the battle of Trafalgar — will not fail hence- 
forth to guide the judgment of the nation in the 
estimate of the merits of future actions. That, 
viewed in connection with such events, the en- 
gagements adverted to in this part of the preface 
will not appear in the page of history as contri- 

* Preface to Naval History, c. xi. 



230 NAVAL HISTORY. 

buting to our naval reputation, is but too true. 
That there were instances in each of distin- 
guished conduct, professional skill, and intre- 
pidity, displayed by many individuals, is justly 
claimed, and readily granted; but these are 
brilliant exceptions, and can never qualify the 
actions themselves, with the reputation they 
ought to have gained for the service. 

In all historical accounts, there are and always 
will be different views taken of the same event, 
according to the bias or prejudice of self, or 
party., or friendship. We doubt whether, even 
in the most complete triumph of either our 
military or our naval service, there may not be 
many who are ready to censure and condemn 
parts, as incomplete and mismanaged: we have 
heard such charges made against both Waterloo 
and Trafalgar! If such be the case, we can best 
form our estimate of the value of any history by 
its agreement with official documents, or the 
recorded opinions of eminent men, who have 
proved, by their professional conduct, their 
claim to have their sentiments respected. Such 
has been the authority sought for and followed 
by the author before us; such has been the great 
outline of his work; and in filling it up, so far 



NAVAL HISTORY. 231 

from being influenced by narrow, personal, or 
party feelings, he lias faithfully endeavoured to 
relate events as they appeared to him to reflect 
lustre, or to cast a shade over the object of 
what might (figuratively) be called his idolatry. 
Requesting the reader to give him credit for 
such motives, which would naturally be excited 
in the breast of one so ardently attached to his 
profession, and so jealous of its fair fame, we will 
now proceed to a cursory review of the principal 
features of this naval history, particularly of 
such passages as have brought down censure 
upon the writer; and I hope to shew, that amidst 
the faults and errors which may be found in the 
work, and from which few are wholly exempt, 
the intention and desire will be evident to relate 
every event with the utmost fidelity, and to offer 
such reflections as might tend to stimulate or 
warn those who are now beginning their career 
in the navy, by the instances of success or failure 
set before them, with the causes to which each 
is attributable. 

I would now briefly advert to the spirit of ri- 
valship manifested by a contemporary, and ex- 
ceedingly regret the existence of such a feeling, 
as the two works were admirably qualified to 



232 NAVAL HISTORY. 

have assisted each other, and to have formed 
between them a rich depot of materials for the 
future historian, when recording the events of 
our days. The two authors had evidently the 
same object in view, nor was there necessarily 
any elements of discordance beyond a competi- 
tion for public favour, of which each might have 
possessed a full share, without prejudice to the 
other. 

The contemporary history is that of Mr. 
James, which I readily admit to be a work of 
great merit, one that evinces much talent, and 
the most industrious and patient research, and 
which I believe to be correct in a very remark- 
able degree. I can only regret that the writer 
should have indulged in those little traits of sar- 
casm in his occasional notes, and in the uncalled 
for general censures upon men who have stood 
so deservedly high in their profession. The ego- 
tism displayed in the prefaces to the two editions, 
is more likely to amuse than to offend, and rather 
to hurt the writer than his rival, nor would it be 
adverted to upon the present occasion, but for 
the refutation of the charges implied. 

To the second edition of the same work, edited 
by my gallant and talented brother officer, Cap- 



NAVAL HISTORY. 233 

tain Chamier, is attached another preface from 
himself, which will call for some remarks, but 
which I offer in the most conciliatory spirit. 

I hope to stand acquitted of any intention of 
throwing discredit upon the history of Mr. 
James. I wish it a wide circulation, and that it 
may be productive of much advantage to his 
widow. I have it upon my own book shelves, 
and consider it a valuable work, not only for 
general information, but for reference. 

In Captain Chamier's preface I find the fol- 
lowing definition of the two naval histories — 
that of Mr. James's being qualified as "A Naval 
History," and Captain Brenton's as "A Cursory 
History of Modern Europe, slightly touching 
upon naval events." I should rather say that 
the first was the proper title to Captain Bren- 
ton's book, and that Mr. James's should be in- 
cluded under the name given to his other valuable 
work — "Naval Occurrences" — and give my rea- 
sons for coming to such a conclusion. The his- 
tory of the Navy of any country should not be 
confined to the mere operations of fleets and 
squadrons; the reader must expect to find some 
account of the state of the country at the com- 
mencement of the war, its internal resources, 



234 



NAVAL HISTORY 



its foreign commerce, its colonies, resources for 
building, equipping, and manning the Navy; the 
political circumstances which led to the breaking 
out of hostilities, the relative position of the 
belligerents, and with a general view of the effect 
which a naval war would probably have upon the 
other powers of the world. These are all sub- 
jects of first rate importance to be brought before 
the reader; nor is the state of public feeling, as 
manifested by the parliamentary debates, unin- 
teresting to the English reader. All this Cap- 
tain Brenton has been particular in inserting in 
his work; whilst Mr. James has passed over all 
but what immediately concerns the maritime 
position of the contending parties relative to 
their shipping and colonies. In asserting the 
superior merits of his work, Mr. James, in his 
preface to the second edition, says, "Let them 
(his readers) consider that any of my six volumes 
(his first edition has only five) contain more mat- 
ter pertaining to naval history than the five vo- 
lumes of Captain Brenton." This, as far as 
relates to history, I cannot admit. Far be it 
from me to censure Mr. James for the introduc- 
tion of the names, not only of every officer, but 
of every person above the rank of the foremast 



NAVAL HISTORY. 235 

man, and the detail of every boat affair that ever 
occurred on any coast. I rejoice to see them re- 
corded, and think the mention of their gallant 
exertion well worthy of public notice and public 
admiration, and quite in their place in the nar- 
rative of 'naval occurrences/ altogether forming 
a rich mine from whence the material for history 
may be procured; but at the same time I doubt 
the possibility of their being transmitted beyond 
the present era, as subjects of national history. 
Again, it must be gratifying to officers of ships 
in different parts of a fleet to see -the history of 
the deeds of their respective ships detailed by 
their own shipmates, from extracts made from 
their own logs, and their own achievements em- 
blazoned by eye witnesses and partakers of their 
gallant actions. But how are the discrepancies 
to be reconciled? We can here safely appeal to 
every officer on the navy list, as to the impossi- 
bility of such a result. Such a plan for obtain- 
ing historical accuracy reminds me of the painter, 
who, in order to mark the excellence, or to detect 
the faults of his picture, put a brush into the 
hands of the spectator, requesting he would mark 
either the one or the other. The picture, as 
might have been expected, was entirely obscured 



236 NAVAL HISTORY. 

by these notes of admiration, or marks of disap- 
probation, and would have but little chance of 
finding its way to posterity. If such details are 
subtracted from the pages of Mr. James, which 
he tells us he has devoted to the great battles, 
they will be greatly diminished; at all events, 
we may depend upon the future historian who 
comes to his work for materials being much puz- 
zled in the choice of them. 

The introductory chapter of Brenton's "Na- 
val History" is devoted, in the first place, to a 
brief statement of the situation in which Great 
Britain was left at the end of the American war, 
in 1783, the commencement of the period at 
which he proposed to begin his history, shewing 
the effect produced by the loss of so large a por- 
tion of her colonies upon our national funds, our 
navy, and our commerce, as well as our internal 
resources after so severe a struggle. This surely 
cannot be objected to as irrelevant, but must, on 
the contrary, be of essential importance to the 
reader in preparing his mind for the subject about 
to be brought before him, and enable him to ap- 
preciate the exertions which were made under 
such trying circumstances. It was in the first 
American war that the seeds of the French re- 



NAVAL HISTORY. 237 

volution were sown, and which produced such a 
fearful amount of misery to the whole world, and 
led to the fierce struggle between the two great 
maritime powers of Europe for more than twenty 
years duration. Few, if any, of the nations were 
exempt from the effects of this explosion, and 
the navy of Sweden was the only one not 
immediately involved in the contest. The ob- 
servations which follow are of a very cheering 
description, and shews with what energy Eng- 
land recovered from the.., disastrous position in 
which she had been placed, and in a few years 
rose greater than ever in power, splendour, and 
wealth. 

I would now offer a few words to the gallant 
Editor of the second edition of James's "Naval 
History," and I do so without the slightest feel- 
ing of unkindness. I accept, with the fullest 
confidence and sincerest pleasure, the gratifying 
testimony he has given of the estimation in which 
my lamented brother was held by those who knew 
him, " for philanthrophy, assiduity, andprofessional 
ability," together with the assurance, that "no 
man more richly deserves this eulogy;"and I cordi- 
ally agree with him in opinion when he says, "It 
is impossible for any man to believe that I answer 



238 NAVAL HISTORY. 

his reply with a wish to detract from his charac- 
ter in the slightest degree." Captain Chamier 
is undoubtedly right in saying that no great work 
of times past can be written without recourse to 
the pages of others; and I as freely admit that 
Mr. James was bound, in duty to himself and to 
his readers, diligently to consider every state- 
ment made by a contemporary writer — to point 
out any errors he might meet with; and I feel 
quite certain, that had this been done in a kindly 
feeling by Mr. James, it would have been thank- 
fully received and attended to. 

One of the first objections Mr. James makes 
to Captain Brenton's work, is to the brevity with 
which he relates the great naval actions. It is 
readily admitted that these accounts are far more 
concise than those of Mr. James's; but it does 
not follow that they are wanting in importance, 
or less appropriate to such a work. If it be es- 
sential to history that it should be grounded on 
undeniable documents, and derived from the very 
best authority, Captain Brenton for this purpose 
refers to the official account given by the com- 
mander-in-chief himself. Mr. James repudiates 
such a practice; alleging that such statements 
are sometimes erroneous; and prefers a reference 



NAVAL HISTORY. 239 

to the ships' logs, and the accounts given by 
those who, whatever might have been their op- 
portunities of local observation, were certainly 
less able to judge of the whole than the Com- 
mander-in-Chief, the captain of the fleet, and 
the secretary ; the immediate duty of the latter 
being to take minutes of every event as it oc- 
curred, not only as relating to a particular ship, 
but to the whole fleet — to both fleets. Here, 
then, we rest our defence for Captain Brenton's 
preference to the Gazette letter to any other 
source of information : not that he rejects the 
latter, but receives it cautiously. This will, at 
once, account for the difference between the two 
authors, as to the length of their respective nar- 
ratives. 

It is admitted that errors have been detected 
in official letters : that a material one exists in 
that of Earl Howe, upon the 1st of June, as to 
the force of the enemy, and the number de- 
stroyed (of one ship). This has been corrected, 
and the mistake recorded. But where will pos- 
terity look for authority on which it can rest 
with greater confidence? What materials can 
be so valuable to the historian of the peninsular 
war, as the published despatches and correspond- 



240 NAVAL HISTORY. 

ence of the Duke of Wellington, written by the 
hand of one who planned and executed the cam- 
paign? It is much to be lamented that every 
respectable historian should not avail himself of 
such important, official information. I was 
greatly delighted to hear that a history of Eng- 
land had been written by the Rev. Henry Wal- 
ter, upon Christian principles. I immediately 
ordered it, and was highly gratified by the spirit 
it evinced, and the judicious reflections it con- 
tained, so admirably calculated to enable young 
people to discern what is intrinsically valuable, 
and to distinguish it amidst the false glare which 
is made to surround the achievements of war. 
I felt a hope and a confidence that it would be 
universally circulated; but when I came to these 
events with which I was personally acquainted, 
or which came within my own time, and found 
many misstatements, I was greatly disappointed, 
and felt the conviction that the success of the 
work would be much impeded, from the want 
of accuracy, resulting entirely from inattention 
to the Gazette letters, which, of all documents, 
are perhaps the easiest to procure. The same 
errors are to be found in the splendid work of 
Mr. Allison; and I feel convinced that neither 



NAVAL HISTORY. 241 

of these talented and respectable authors will 
take offence at my having thus noticed these 
deficiences: on the contrary, that they will be 
pleased with the opportunity of correcting them 
in future editions, which may easily b'e done. 
With reference to Mr. Allison's work, I allude 
particularly to the account of the sinking of the 
Vengeur, on the 1st of June. Such corrections 
are the more important, as the reader who de- 
tects an error in one place, will suspect there 
may be others which he has no means to dis- 
cover. 

That the Commander-in-Chief himself may 
err in the representation of minor details, is not 
to be denied; but we may in general depend 
upon the accuracy of his relation. 

With respect to the victory of the 1st of June, 
Captain Brenton kept the official letter strictly 
in view. He dwells but little upon the events 
of the previous days — barely sufficient to shew 
Avhy a decisive battle did not sooner take place 
— but reserves the more minute detail for the 
day of victory. He begins with an extract from 
the Queen Charlotte's log, and grounds his rela- 
tion of the battle upon it. The narrative of a 
sea-fight must necessarily be short, and in gene- 
It 



242 NAVAL HISTORY. 

ral consists of a description of the relative posi- 
tion of the adverse fleets — the wind and weather 
— the attack — the operations of the two Com- 
manders-in-Chief — the manner in which they 
were respectively supported — the effects of the 
fire — -and the result. Our author has endea- 
voured to give this in clear and distinct terms, 
and concludes his account with inserting the 
Commander-in-Chief's official letter and reports 
of the conduct of those under his command — 
the captures made from the enemy — the casu- 
alties in both fleets — killed, wounded, prisoners, 
&c. At the same time, he considered it due to 
the public, and to those engaged particularly, to 
give the view as taken from other parts of the 
line, and publishes the logs of the Royal George, 
the flag-ship of the second in command, and that 
of the Orion ; corroborating, in some instances, 
and occasionally shewing the unavoidable dis- 
crepancy of accounts of the same event. The 
contemporary historian proceeds upon a different 
plan, and is much more minute; but, disregarding 
official documents, he relies upon the logs of 
different ships, and the statement of their officers 
for his information. We give him full credit for 
his laborious researches, but we feel at the same 



NAVAL HISTORY. 243 

time that his authorities may be questioned. 
This will be at once admitted by any one who 
would take the trouble to examine the different 
log-books. They will be found to differ materially 
in the different parts of the line, and so will the 
narrative. We are very far from any intention 
of throwing discredit upon those private details — 
we believe to have been faithfully written from 
imperfect recollection — we have read them with 
very great interest; but contend they are un- 
avoidably too local for general effect and accuracy. 

It has been said that Captain Brenton has 
omitted many of the details of single actions and 
boat rencontres. I am not aware of any of the 
decided actions between single ships or sloops 
being passed over, but it is admitted, and for the 
reasons already given, that boat affairs have been 
left out as exclusively applicable to the present 
day; general observations have however been 
made and will be found in various parts of his 
work, which will convince the reader that he 
fully appreciated the energy and heroism so 
frequently manifested on such occasions. 

The insertion of the very small portion of 
debates in Parliament which are introduced into 
this history, is by no means either irrelevant 



244 NAVAL HISTORY. 

or uninteresting. Those upon the preceding 

peace, at the very outset of the work, appear to be 

indispensable for a proper understanding of the 

natural state of public feeling at that time; nor 

is it unimportant that the reader should keep in 

view the men by whom the country was governed 

during the war, as well as those who commanded 

our fleets; but some of the discussions in the 

senate immediately related to our naval history, 

which would be incomplete without them being 

adverted to. The question brought before the 

House of Commons, in 1787, upon a recent 

promotion of flag officers, was deeply, interesting 

to the whole profession; and although lost by a 

considerable majority at that time, has continued 

to force "itself upon the public notice, until an 

effectual, although a tardy act of justice, after a 

lapse of more than half a century, has taken 

place, and a weight of wretchedness has been 

removed from the mind of many an aged and 

gallant officer who considered himself disgraced 

by being excluded from the list of the navy. 

They are now restored to their proper place on 

the list, and the cause may be traced to those 

very debates to which we refer. The names of 

the generous advocates for the injured officers 



NAVAL HISTORY. 245 

ought to be recorded in the naval history of this 
country, and we rejoice to see them there. The 
discussions in parliament upon the state of the 
navy, will be read with great interest wherever 
they occur in this naval history, and no apology 
is required for their introduction. 

On the subject of the naval armament in 1787, 
usually called the Dutch armament, a very slight 
notice is taken of the debate in parliament upon 
that occasion, but the King's speech and Mr. 
Fox's observations in recommending "attention 
to the navy, the natural force of the country" 
seems very apposite. There is also much useful 
information in the debates which took place on 
the Spanish armament, in 1790, and that on 
account of Russia, in 1791. They are acknow- 
ledged to have been attended with a heavy 
expence; but the historian justly considers them 
as having been highly beneficial in preparing the 
navy for the contest in which they were soon to 
be engaged. It will be found that wherever 
parliamentary discussions are introduced into 
the naval history, they have all the same impor- 
tant bearing upon the great subject of the work. 

The question of the navigation of the Scheldt 
might also have been included in the sweeping 



246 NAVAL HISTORY. 

charge as belonging to the "cursory history of 
modern Europe/' but it appears to be intimately 
connected with the naval interests, not only of 
Great Britain, but of Europe, and most appro- 
priately introduced here from its connection with 
the commerce of this country; whilst the de- 
scription of that noble river, and its capability of 
raising a naval power within its own banks, is of 
the utmost importance to be known and appre- 
ciated. It also became the scene of naval ope- 
rations which the work was intended to relate. 

Voyages of discovery form a most important 
part of the naval history of any country. They 
are deeply and intensely interesting to the reader, 
and belong with the strictest propriety to the 
class of maritime affairs. Captain Brenton has 
accordingly devoted a portion of his work to this 
subject. Mr. James has touched upon the same 
events; and in his account of the voyages per- 
formed under the direction of Sir Edward Parry, 
acknowledges that there were transactions grow- 
ing out of these expeditions as honourable "upon 
the whole to the character of the British navy, 
as they were interesting and important to geo- 
graphical discovery." I would go further, and 
rank these among the most brilliant of our naval 



NAVAL HISTORY. 247 

achievements: the exertions to which they give 
rise, and the qualities they bring into action are 
of a far higher character than those displayed in 
battle, in exertions of a short duration, under a 
stimulus of irresistible force, when to shew the 
slightest appearance of timidity would lead to 
ruin of character, and where success would be 
rewarded by the fulfilment of the long cherished 
hopes of distinction, promotion, and profit. Every 
man is brave, to a certain degree, in action; but 
how much greater claim to distinction has the 
navigator who undertakes to explore the polar 
seas, exposed to contend for days and nights with 
every suffering and difficulty and danger inci- 
dental to a sea life. To the commander these 
trials must be peculiarly severe. He has them 
in addition to his personal sufferings in common 
with others; but he has the still heavier burthen 
of responsibility: he must continually feel its 
weight pressing upon him with the greatest force, 
as the lives of all, under Providence, in a great 
measure depend upon the exercise of his judg- 
ment: the eyes of his country are upon him; 
there are none of the "pomps and circumstances 
of war," which lead to the forgetfulness of danger. 
We all know the effect of the first broadside in 



248 NAVAL HISTORY. 

raising the spirits of those who were never 
before in action; the invigorating effect of the 
smell of powder, and the cheerful activity of his 
gallant companions, convert at once the timid 
into a temporary hero. Brit where are such 
excitements to be found, in a long continued 
period of suffering, the intensity of cold, and 
the exposure to being wrecked amidst the fields 
of ice in a tempestuous sea; dangers against 
which no foresight, abilities, or zeal can guard; 
when every circumstance tends to repress exer- 
ertion, and to deaden the faculties; when even 
hope itself seems to have deserted them. I 
have always considered the most brilliant part of 
Lord Nelson's character was that which may be 
called his moral courage — the intrepidity with 
which he undertook the most awful responsibility. 
This was particularly evinced by his pursuit of 
the French fleet to the West Indies, upon no 
authentic information, but from the suggestion 
of his great mind, and his own intuitive judg- 
ment, which was hardly ever known to fail 
him. This very remarkable and noble feature 
in his character was shewn under every circum- 
stance that called for it. As an instance:— A 
young commander in the Mediterranean was 



NAVAL HISTORY. 249 

ordered to take a convoy of Neapolitan vessels 
to the port of Calgiari, in Sardinia, to load corn 
for the supply of the British troops. On receiving 
the order, he thought it necessary to advert to 
the circumstance of the Neapolitans being at 
war with the Barbary States, and to ask how he 
was to act in the event cf falling in with any of 
their cruisers. The commanding officer not choos- 
ing to incur the responsibility of his own act, 
replied, "you will not meet with any of them," 
and left the room. The young officer proceeded 
on his voyage with some degree of anxiety lest 
he might be called to a hostile conflict with a 
neutral, and be made a political victim; but fall- 
ing in with Lord Nelson on his way he put the 
same question to him. "Let him sink you," said 
his lordship, "but do not suffer them to touch 
the hair of the head of one of your convoy." 
"Now," replied the officer, "my mind is at rest: 
it is immaterial to me whether I fall in with a 
Tunisian or a Frenchman, my duty is plain." 
But to return to our circumnavigators; their 
position is essentially one of responsibility, and 
when this is manfully borne, it must establish 
their undoubted claim to the respect and admi- 
ration of the profession. 



250 NAVAL HISTORY. 

One great advantage of a naval history is that 
it contains, or should contain, a record of those 
who have aimed at distinction from their conduct 
under trying circumstances. We remember, 
with peculiar delight, the deep interest we felt 
in early life in reading Campbell's Lives of Brit- 
ish Admirals, with whose memoirs we became 
familiarly acquainted; and we believe such histo- 
ries to be most instructive in a professional point 
of view, to the youth intended for the navy. 
The account given by Captain Brenton of the 
truly noble conduct of Lieutenant Riou, upon 
the loss of the Guardian, is of thrilling excite- 
ment, and well calculated to animate those who 
may be placed in similar situations. Much time 
has elapsed since this occurrence took place, but 
it has lost none of its interest, as will be at once 
acknowledged on a perusal of the narrative. 
The short comment by which it is concluded is 
a very just one: 

"The preservation of the Guardian was effect- 
ed by the professional skill of her commander, 
and by the happy union of those qualities of the 
mind so essential to the character of a perfect 
naval officer." 

The following little anecdote goes at once to 



NAVAL HISTORY. 251 

the heart. Mr. Crowther, a clergyman who was 
a passenger in the Guardian, proceeding to a 
chaplaincy which Mr. Wilberforce had procured 
for him in New South Wales, gives the following 
account of his interview with Riou, previous to 
his quitting the ship; he says, "when the ship's 
condition was altogether hopeless, Captain Riou 
sent for me into the cabin, and asked me — - 
'Crowther, how do you feel?' 'How! why, I 
thank God, pretty comfortable.' 'I cannot say I 
do. I had a pious mother, and I have not prac- 
tised what she taught me — but I must do my 
duty. The boats will not hold one-third of our 
crew, and if I left the vessel there would be a 
general rush into them, and every one would 
perish. I shall stay by the ship, but you shall 
have a place, and be sure you go to the master's 
boat, for he knows what he is about, and if any 
boat reaches the shore it will be his.'"* 

It would be needless to offer any observations 
upon the gallant River's state of mind upon this 
trying occasion; the combined feelings of re- 
pentance towards God for neglect of the gracious 
opportunities he had enjoyed, and resolution to 
devote what might remain to him of life to the 

* Life of Wilberforce, vol. i. 270. 



252 NAVAL HISTORY. 

fulfilment of his duties to his companions in 
distress and to his country. The calmness with 
which he resolved to stay by his ship, in order 
to give those whom the boats might contain an op- 
portunity of escaping, and the judicious arrange- 
ment he made for safety of his friend, will make 
a deep impression upon the mind of the reader. 

In the same chapter with the loss of the 
Guardian, is contained an account of the disas- 
trous voyage of the Bounty, the mutiny of her 
crew, and the indescribable sufferings of the few 
who remained faithful to their sovereign; with 
some interesting observations upon the voyage 
of M. de la Perouse, who was lost, with his two 
ships and all their crews, on their return voyage, 
never having been heard of, although many 
articles belonging to each have been found on 
the shores of the Indian Archipelago, and are 
now in the naval museum, at Paris. Captain 
Brenton says, "he was an able and persevering 
navigator: France has done him honor by every 
mark of public respect done to the memory of a 
great and good man. No pains have been spared 
to discover the remains of his ships; vessels 
were fitted out and sent in search of him; all 
nations were appealed to, and all have furnished 



NAVAL HISTORY. 253 

their slender contribution of information, but 
none have been able to trace him beyond Botany 
Bay, or to shed the smallest ray of light on the 
brave but unfortunate Perouse." p. 109. 

It is gratifying amidst the scenes of horror and 
desolations occasioned by wars, to contemplate a 
kindly feeling manifested by the belligerents to- 
wards the subjects of each other engaged in the 
pursuit of objects beneficial to the general interests 
of mankind, and for the improvement of science. 
This praiseworthy liberality is usually exercised 
towards the vessels employed on discovery. It 
was formerly extended to every class of non- 
combatants, who were taken in battle; the chap- 
lains, surgeons, pursers, and assistant-surgeons, 
having been constantly permitted to return to 
their respective countries, when captured in 
action; and as a proof that this had long been 
customary, at the breaking out of the war, in 
1803, there was actually no place on the Tableau 
d'assimilation of prisoners, for officers of this 
description; and it was necessary to make a 
reference to the transport board, in England, for 
information as to the ranks they should respec- 
tively occupy. It is unnecessary to add, that 
the interruption of so humane a system origina- 



254 NAVAL HISTORY. 

ted with Bonaparte. "He opened not the doors 
of his prisoners." But it is a system which we 
earnestly hope will be renewed should we be 
unfortunately engaged in war, and that cartels 
for the exchange of prisoners will be re-estab- 
lished, which were only discontinued by the 
French government, from the sordid and ungene- 
rous motive of seeking to deprive us of our 
seamen, the objects of their just dread, little 
caring about the prolonged sufferings of their 
own people, treble the number of ours. It 
was the same feeling which dictated the harsh 
and ungenerous measure of arresting Lieutenant 
Flinders, at the Isle of France, lest he might 
carry home with him the knowledge of the port, 
and its weak points. 

In chapter xi. we have a fearful account 
of the corruptions which existed in one depart- 
ment of the service, and we fear but too well 
founded. The board of naval enquiry shews to 
what a height abuses and peculation were carried 
on at home, and from thence we may infer, that 
on a remote station, the prospect of impunity 
would stimulate others to avail themselves of the 
opportunity placed within their reach. A better 
order of things has now however taken place, and 



NAVAL HISTORY. 255 

we believe that no accounts are more faithfully 
kept, or more honestly discharged than those of 
the navy, in all parts of the world; and great is the 
debt the country owes to the Earl of St. Vincent, 
for having brought the subject before the country. 

There is a beautiful little anecdote, p. 347, 
vol. 1., of the conduct of Captain Newcome, of 
the Orpheus, 32 guns, who having gallantly 
engaged and taken the French frigate, Du Guay 
Trouin, of 34 guns, after a very severe action, 
put into the Sechelles, an infant settlement of the 
French, in the Arabian seas, where they where 
inhumanly refused the refreshment they required 
for their wounded; Captain Newcome, in conse- 
quence, attacked the island and took possession 
of it, when he landed the wounded Frenchmen 
with every thing he could procure for their com- 
fort and cure ; he also gave up the cargo of 
another prize he had taken, laden with agricul- 
tural and carpenters' tools, which had been sent 
out for the use of the settlers. 

The account of the capture of that valuable 
colony, the Cape of Good Hope, is very inter- 
esting; and that of the surrender of the Dutch 
fleet, under Admiral Lucas, by capitulation, to 
Lord Keith, particularly so, as it is a rare, 



256 NAVAL HISTORY. 

though not solitary instance of the kind, and 
describes with great clearness the law of captures. 
We must at the same time deeply regret that 
this law should have excluded our gallant breth- 
ren in arms from any share of the capture of 
this fleet. The decision appears the more extra- 
ordinary as they actually contributed, by their 
presence on the shores of Saldahna Bay, to 
induce the Dutch admiral to capitulate, for had 
they not been there, he might, and undoubtedly 
would, have landed his people and destroyed his 
ships. 

The deep interest which Captain Brenton felt 
in every thing connected with his profession is 
manifest in the energy with which he advocated 
what was truly valuable and meritorious, as well 
as reprobating what he considered injurious to 
its welfare; and we well know how warmly he 
felt towards that truly estimable corps, the Royal 
Marines. And partaking as I do in these feel- 
ings, from the experience I have had of their 
value, I shall not hesitate in joining my meed of 
praise to the just eulogium he has passed upon 
them in his naval history — a part for which per- 
haps he has incurred censure, as irrelevant to naval 
history. I have ever given him great credit for 



NAVAL HISTORY. 257 

the judgment which he displayed in introducing 
this subject, and giving a short account of the 
origin of that excellent branch of our sea-service. 
It contains valuable information, which, although 
easy to be obtained from the proper source, has 
seldom found its way before the public; and I 
can only regret that, on his late Majesty, William 
the Fourth, reviewing the Royal Marines, when 
Lord High Admiral, on Southsea beach, a short- 
hand writer had not been present to record his 
observations, and the interesting account he gave 
of the services of that gallant corps. It must 
have been highly gratifying to all present. Cap- 
tain Brenton in speaking of them says, (Vol. i. 
page 55.^) 

"The services of this corps are too well known, 
and too intimately connected with naval history, 
to require a particular or separate detail. Their 
motto is, "per mare et terram;" and never was 
motto more appropriate. The garrison duty in 
our sea-port towns is usually performed by them; 
they are the first embarked whenever a ship is 
commissioned, and by their fidelity and willing- 
ness are particularly acceptable in the early 
stages of equipment. 

"Desertion is far less frequent in this corps, 



258 NAVAL HISTORY. 

than with seamen or landsmen, (blue jackets). 
They are bound by an oath on entering into the 
service to be faithful to their king; and to their 
honor be it said, that, as a corps, this has never 
been violated. 

"They were particularly instrumental in the 
attack and capture of Gibraltar, in 1704, and 
fought in most of the battles on the coast of 
Spain, where our arms were joined with those 
of Austria, in the War of the Succession. Their 
history, up to the peace of Amiens, has been 
very ably detailed, with much interesting matter, 
by Lieutenant Alexander Gillespie, and it will 
be sufficient for our purpose, having named that 
officer and his work, to refer our readers to it, 
and conclude by saying; that in consequence of 
the steady conduct of the marines, whether 
landed in foreign countries, engaged with the 
enemy, or on the more unpleasant duty of pre- 
venting or quelling mutiny, they have ever 
shewn themselves the undaunted defenders of 
their king and country; nor is the government 
insensible to their merit, or disinclined to reward 
it. The corps has been placed on a level with 
its brethren in arms, and was in 1802, styled 
' Royal;' its facings changed from white and 
silver, to blue and gold." (p. 55.) 



NAVAL HISTORY. 259 

The subsequent establishment of a Marine Ar- 
tillery brought together as fine a body of men 
as could possibly have been found out of the 
inhabitants of our empire; but the arrangement 
recently established of making a practical gunner 
of every man in the ship, by the system so hap- 
pily pursued on board the Excellent, has rendered 
this distinct branch of the Royal Marines un- 
necessary. 

From the experience I have had of the im- 
portance of this corps, I have felt a conviction, 
that it would tend much to the national welfare 
and security that they should be greatly increased. 
I would not hesitate to say, doubled, if not treb- 
led, beyond the present number. And I will 
support this assertion by appealing to the good 
sense and candour of my brother officers, military 
and naval, as to the real efficiency of the Marines 
whenever they have been called into service; 
whether they have not evinced an unusual de- 
gree of docility and good behaviour in the ranks, 
inflexible steadiness under fire, and invincible 
fidelity in every thing committed to their charge. 
With such qualifications, I confidently ask, why 
a very considerable portion of our foreign garri- 
sons should not consist of marines? they would 



260 NAVAL HISTORY. 

then be available either for land or sea service ; 
and, should a war break out, be in readiness to 
complete the compliments of the ships -of-war 
on the station, upon the arrival of recruits from 
home to supply their places. I can see no possi- 
ble objection which could be urged against such 
a measure, than the consequent reduction of the 
troops of the line; but we are now, I hope, in 
every sense of the word, a "United Service," 
and there is ample room for all who aspire to 
become defenders of our country, in one corps 
or the other. The only question seems to be as to 
the measures which would most effectually pro- 
mote the general interest. 

We have now gone through the introductory 
chapters of Brenton's Naval History, and we 
appeal to the judicious reader how far any of 
the subjects they contain are irrelevant to such 
a work, or whether they could have been con- 
sistently omitted. 

We acknowledge that chapters x. and xi., of 
the first volume are misplaced, as they are con- 
fined to a description of the state in which our 
East and West India possessions were found at 
the commencement of the war, in 1793, and 
should have been included in the introduction; 



NAVAL HISTORY. 261 

and readily admit that more than was necessary 
to a naval history, was said upon the subject of 
the Vendean war, considering its result, and yet 
it was wholly of a maritime description, as far as 
Great Britain was concerned, 

Another accusation brought against Captain 
Brenton, is for the severity of his remarks upon 
living characters, or upon those of men who have 
recently been removed. In such a history, and 
with such varieties of services and characters, it 
would seem impossible to avoid giving offence, 
or preserve a claim to strict impartiality. But 
if he has been guilty on this head, what shall 
we say of his contemporaries? it would be 
invidious to give the instances, but the naval 
reader will be at no loss to discover them. 

There is one passage of this description in the 
first volume, which we sincerely regret, and 
which we know was lamented by its author as 
an unfortunate error. I allude, of course, to the 
statement relative to Admiral Montagu, which 
arose from the coincidence of his striking his flag 
at a particular period. We all know how ready 
the public are to assign causes to events, which 
was the case in this instance ; and the impression 
was further strengthened in our author's mind, 



262 NAVAL HISTORY. 

by Lord St. Vincent saying, "that the gallant 
Admiral had been hardly used." 

But in order that full justice may be done to 
both parties, I would refer the reader to the 
preface which Captain Brent on affixed to the 
third volume, which was written as soon as he 
was convinced of his error. I trust it was 
received as a sincere and a satisfactory apology 
for the mis-statement, as well as a complete refu- 
tation of any charge against the late much 
respected Admiral. 

This preface contains the author's apology for 
the insertion of the much lamented passages 
respecting Admiral Sir George Montagu. Much 
as it is to be regretted that the incautious state- 
ment should ever have been given, it must at 
the same time be admitted that the effect has been 
of sterling value to the memory of the highly 
respected character which it was calculated to 
wound, as it enabled him to publish the pamphlet 
which so completely exculpated him from every 
shade of censure or suspicion that had been 
excited by the accidental coincidence of the flag 
having been hauled down at that period; and I 
avail myself of this opportunity to offer my own 
professional opinion upon the subject, which is, 



NAVAL HISTORY. 263 

that taking into consideration the force of the 
French fleet, the state of the weather, which 
is described as beautiful, with the smoothness of 
the water, that the admiral in attacking a force 
so disproportionate to his own would have incur- 
red the charge of unjustifiable temerity; and had 
the French conducted themselves with a mode- 
rate degree of resolution, there is little doubt 
but many of the British squadron would 
have been crippled. With a strong breeze, and 
a sea going, the case would have been very differ- 
ent. The little squadron might then, and un- 
doubtedly would, have attacked the enemy in 
detail, with the probable result of capturing all 
the crippled ships, if not many of the others; 
but under the circumstances which occurred, 
there was little prospect of making an im- 
pression upon the compact line of the enemy; 
and it must be taken into consideration, that 
even dismasted ships, in tow of others, and 
placed at proper intervals in the line, are to all 
intents and purposes, in light winds and smooth 
water, as formidable as though they were in 
possession of their sails. In confirmation of this 
opinion, I would refer to the action between the 
Venerable and the French Formidable, on the 



264: NAVAL HISTORY. 

morning of the 13th of July, 1801. The latter 
ship had been severely crippled a week before 
in the action of Algeciraz, and indeed so had the 
Venerable; but this ship was refitted at Gibraltar, 
whilst the Formidable was under jury top masts. 
At the dawn of day these ships were seen 
alongside of each other with very light airs and 
perfectly smooth water; in the course of a short 
time the Venerable was completely dismasted, by 
the effect of superior weight of metal only; for 
the well established and highly merited reputa- 
tion of her captain, the late Admiral Sir Samuel 
Hood, is a convincing proof that no skill or ef- 
forts were wanting in the Venerable. Such, in 
all probability, would have been the case with 
many of Admiral Montagu's squadron, had they 
attacked the French fleet with the wind and 
weather as described. 

With regard to that passage which appears to 
have given particular offence, that of the general 
expectation manifested in Admiral Montagu's 
squadron of a signal to engage, we would ap- 
peal to all our brother officers, whether such an 
ebulition of feeling is not general throughout 
our fleets, squadrons, or single ships, whenever 
an enemy is in sight, however great the disad- 



NAVAL HISTORY. 265 

vantage under which they may be placed by 
disparity of force. The writer himself can give 
a very striking instance. When in command of 
the Spartan, he was chased by a French squad- 
ron, consisting of a ship of the line, two heavy 
frigates, and a corvette. By a partial wind one of 
the frigates came up with the Spartan, and opened 
her fire, which however was not permitted to be 
returned lest it might destroy the little wind 
which the Spartan was endeavouring to avail 
herself of, whilst the remainder of the enemy's 
squadron were bringing up the breeze astern. 
The officers from the main deck came aft to report 
that the ship's company were in a state of the 
highest excitement, annoyed at receiving the ene- 
my's shot without returning it, regardless of what 
must have been the almost inevitable consequence 
— that of our capture; but they were soon pacified 
by seeing that their opponent had becalmed her- 
self by firing; and the breeze reaching us, we ef- 
fected our escape. Retreat, under any circum- 
stances, however imperative, is always viewed by 
the British seamen with a feeling which is highly 
honorable to their character: hence the general, 
if not the invariable practice, when a ship is 
running from an enemy for the seamen to put a 
bandage over the eyes of the figure head. 



266 NAVAL HISTORY. 

I feel called upon, in again looking over this 
preface, to offer a remark upon the subject of the 
high reputation the navy has acquired in the late 
wars, and of the increased demand which the 
public will in future make upon it for energy 
and exertion. We must not however forget 
those who have gone before us, and whose brilliant 
examples have stimulated their posterity to deeds 
of glory. Especially we would hold out to the 
youth now rising in the service, the daring con- 
duct of Hawke in his action with Conflans, an 
action which has never been exceeded in the 
annals of any nation, and of which we never read 
the details without the highest degree of admi- 
ration: his most intrepid attack upon the French 
fleet on their own coast, in a gale of wind, dead 
on shore. No action has ever exceeded this in 
merit, and remote as the period is at which it 
took place, the 20th of November never comes 
round without the name of Hawke receiving his 
tribute of respect and admiration. 

Our author has also been charged with de- 
grading the character of a profession of which 
he was a member, by his strictures upon some 
of our naval actions, which are enrolled as 
subjects of great triumph on the annals of our 



NAVAL HISTORY. 267 

country. But, after all, "Le vraie est le seal 
beau." He only acted in the strict line of 
his duty, not only as an historian, but as an 
officer, by giving his honest professional opinion 
as to the real merits of the event he record- 
ed; and we think we may now safely appeal 
to the whole profession, and indeed to the 
country, whether such a victory, considered 
under all the circumstances which attended it, 
as the first of June, would in these days obtain 
the same measure of applause as it did in 1794, 
or whether it would not lead to the same con- 
sequences as followed that of Sir Robert Calder, 
in 1805; nay, we will go farther and venture to 
say, that had an investigation taken place upon 
the former battle, none would have been called 
for for the latter. The action would undoubtedly 
have been renewed on the 24th of July. What- 
ever difference of opinion may now exist upon 
such a subject, we may depend upon it, that 
the view here given will be found correct at a 
future period. 

I hope to be excused for entering at some 
length upon the vindication of my brother upon 
this subject. 

In relating the conduct of the fleet on the 



268 NAVAL HISTORY. 

29th of May, in its partial encounter with the 
enemy, every circumstance is adverted to which 
can account for a general action not having been 
brought on, and which could place the energies 
of the British commander in their proper and 
meritorious point of view. That more was not 
done is attributed to the conduct of Captain 
Molloy, in the Csesar; an assertion which was 
borne out by the sentence of the subsequent 
court martial upon that officer. As it belongs 
fairly to the page of history, it may be safely 
quoted by any writer without incurring the 
charge of personality. It will be observed that 
the author in order to insure as correct a view 
as possible of this memorable day, has inserted 
observations made from ships in different parts 
of the line; — viz, from the Queen Charlotte, 
Brunswick, and Orion, in the centre; and from 
the Royal George, in the rear; and with respect 
to Captain Brenton's own opinion, we fearlessly 
appeal for the soundness of it to the profession 
at large, and the nation in general. He says, 
(p. 276, vol. 1,) "we have shewn that there were 
after the action fifteen sail of the line ready to 
renew it; and we are sorry to think that the 
securing the prizes should have delayed or im- 



NAVAL HISTORY. 269 

peded the pursuit of the beaten and flying 
enemy." The consideration of taking a few old 
ships into port, as trophies, seems to have been 
an object of greater importance at that period 
than the final and complete destruction of the 
enemy; and we do entirely accord with him 
in the judicious observation which follows: that 
"the capture of a ship of the line, whether 
she arrive safe or not, should always be paid 
for at a certain ratio, without any deduction 
for repairs of damages sustained in the action, and 
the captors honorably remunerated for the loss 
of their prizes should it be necessary to destroy 
them. Had Lord Howe burnt his captured 
vessels and followed up his advantage, he might 
have completed the greatest naval campaign re- 
corded in history. This is no speculative opinion. 
The facts are clear, and the most undoubted proof 
shall follow the assertion." The proof to which 
Captain Brenton refers, is derived from the fol- 
lowing and other similar documents. Extract 
from the log of the Royal George. "Sunday, 
June 1, (2)* p.m.— In close action. — Latitude 
47° 56' N. — At half-past one, ceased firing. 
Passed several of the enemy's ships which had 

* The nautical day beginning at noon. 



270 NAVAL HISTORY. 

struck — twelve or thirteen of the enemy formed 
a line to leeward. Enemy towing away two or 
three disabled ships. We took possession of seven 
dismasted ships of the enemy." But the strong- 
est testimony we have to offer in support of 
Captain Brenton's assertion, we shall take from 
the very highest authority, that of the com- 
mander-in-chief himself, whose official letter, as 
published in the London Gazette of the 11th of 
June, 1794, which has the following remarkable 
paragraph : 

"In less than an hour after the close action 
commenced in the centre, the French Admiral, 
engaged by the Queen Charlotte, crowded off, 
and was followed by most of the ships in the van 
in condition to carry sail after him, leaving us 
with about ten or twelve of his crippled or totally 
dismasted ships, exclusive of one sunk in the engage- 
ment. The Queen Charlotte had then lost her 
foretopmast, and the maintopmast fell over the 
side soon after. 

" The greater number of the other ships in the 
British fleet were at this time so much disabled, or 
widely separated, and under such circumstances 
with respect to those ships of the enemy in a state 
for action, and with which the firing was still con- 



NAVAL HISTORY. 271 

tinned, that two or three, even of their dismantled 
ships, attempting to get away under a spritsail 
singly, or smaller sail raised on the stump of the 
foremast, could not he detained." 

We have put the whole of this most extra- 
ordinary, and, we must add, this most obscure 
paragraph, in italics, that the reader may give 
it the due attention which it deserves, and by 
which only it can be clearly understood. The 
state of the British fleet is described as "so 
much disabled or widely separated," without any 
specifications of the numbers in either class, 
and it is added, "and under such circum- 
stances with respect to those' ships of the 
enemy in a state for action, and with which 
the firing still continued." Now, we would 
only ask the simple question : With whom 
were those ships of the enemy still engaged? 
The answer is obvious : With some of the British 
ships, of course. And could not some of those 
ships which were said to be widely dispersed, 
some of which, it is said, "had not had a rope 
yarn cut," with all the advantages they possessed, 
have collected and formed a sufficient force to 
have captured in detail those crippled ships of 
the enemy going off under their sprit-sails, "or 



272 NAVAL HISTORY. 

smaller sails set upon the stump of the foremast." 
We require no stronger vindication than this 
to acquit Captain Brenton of every charge of in- 
justice or harshness, in his account of the battle 
of the 1st of June. But what shall we say of 
the author of the life of Earl Howe — of the Se- 
cretary of the Admiralty — who, from his long 
continuance in that office, his means of obtaining 
access to every species of information, a privilege 
he was not likely to neglect when his object was 
to vindicate the character of his hero — what shall 
we say of his statements and admissions?* 

That Captain Brenton has not been singular 
in his strictures on this battle, or needlessly se- 
vere, as is evident from the following extracts 
from Barrow's Life of Lord Howe. "It has been 
said, that if Lord Nelson had been in the place 
of Lord Howe, on the 1st of June, the probability 
is that not a ship of the French would have es- 
caped — Granted; — and if Lord Howe had been 
fortunate enough to have had Nelson's captains 
and crews, which gained the battle of the Nile, 
the probability is equally strong that he would 
have been equally successful, for Lord Nelson 
only followed Lord Howe's example, in assigning 

*Barrow's "Life of Earl Howe," p. 246. 



NAVAL HISTORY. 273 

to every commander his opponent ; but what 
could Lord Nelson, or any other commander, 
effect, if his whole plan was deranged by the bad 
qualities of his ships, and the inexperience and 
incapacity of many of their commanders?" 

Here is certainly a justification for Lord Howe, 
personally, but none for the battle of the 1st of 
June, — and the whole paragraph is an admission 
that Captain Brenton has not spoken so harshly 
of that day as his contemporaries. We must, en 
passant, notice a little error which the author of 
the life of Earl Howe has fallen into upon this 
subject. He states that Lord Nelson only fol- 
lowed Lord Howe's example, in assigning to every 
commander his opponent. This might have been 
Lord Nelson's first intention, but, if so, he altered 
it in running in, and, by throwing his whole force 
upon the enemy's van and part of their centre, 
by which means he certainly accelerated the vic- 
tory of the Nile. 

Again, Sir John Barrow says, p. 251, — " The 
prevailing opinion in the fleet certainly was, that 
five or six of the enemy's ships were suffered to 
escape, which might have been captured with 
ease."* Lord Howe, however, states both in his 

* Barrow's "Life of Earl Howe," p. 251. 
T 



274: NAVAL HIST0KY. 

public letter and private journal, that the greater 
number of the British fleet were so much disabled, 
or widely separated, and under such circum- 
stances with respect to these ships of the enemy 
in a state for action, and with which the firing 
was still continued, that two or three even of 
their disabled ships, attempting to get away under 
a spritsail singly, or a smaller sail raised on the 
stump of the foremast, escaped. 

The reflections made by Sir J. Barrow upon 
this passage, are at once judicious and conclusive. 
He says — " It is for seamen only to decide (in 
which way, however, is not material for the pre- 
sent purpose) whether, from the above statement, 
fourteen of our ships, not much damaged, were 
more than equal to oppose themselves to nine 
French, capable of making an effort to protect 
their dismasted ships," and the four others "that 
went away early in the action, or, at all events, 
whether they were not fully equal to have pre- 
vented the five dismantled ships from escaping. 
The general impression at the time in the fleet 
was, that they could, and ought to have done so." 
Sir John then proceeds to confirm this view of 
the subject, by citing the opinions of five flag 
officers, " now alive," all of whom served in the 



NAVAL HISTORY. 275 

squadron of the 1st of June, as lieutenants. One 
says, " When the smoke cleared away, they had 
left twelve sail of their dismasted ships in our 
possession: five got off — some under a spritsail, 
and others were towed out by their small ships. 
We had at that time many of our line-of-battle 
ships with every mast and sail standing, which 
might and should have prevented the escape of 
those five dismasted ships."* 

But the Secretary of the Admiralty, after 
describing the situation of the fleet at the close 
of the action, (extracted from a critical inquiry 
by a captain in the navy,) sums up the whole in 
these remarkable words: "He might have added, 
What confidence could Lord Howe have had in 
his eight seventy-fours, which had contributed 
little or nothing to the victory — such as ******? 
Was a second battle to be entrusted to such 
ships?"* 

After these extracts, we are relieved from the 
task of proving that Captain Brenton, at all 
events, was not singular in the manner in which 
he qualified this battle, nor need we notice the 
charge brought against him by a rival — "that 
he laboured hard to disparage the victory of the 
1st of June." 

* Barrow's " Life of Earl Howe," p. 253. f ib. 258. 



276 NAVAL HISTORY. 

The battles of St. Vincent, Camperdown, the 
Nile, Copenhagen, and that great consummation 
of naval triumph, the battle of Trafalgar, have 
led the British public to look for higher results 
than the partial defeat of the enemy, and the 
capture of a few of his ships. The maxim, that 
"nothing is done, while any thing remains to be 
done," is universal; and a saying, we believe of 
Earl St. Vincent's, that "the word cannot should 
be expunged from the Naval Dictionary, and try 
put in twice instead of it," has passed into a 
proverb throughout the service. Our navy, as 
well as our military brethren, have learned to 
despise inequality of force, or strength of posi- 
tion. Calculations as to the expediency of re- 
newing an action, with a defeated fleet, arising 
from the misconduct of officers, will no longer 
be tolerated. Offenders of this description would 
find themselves superseded, and placed under ar- 
rest, even under the fire of the enemy. Every 
reader of naval history must be surprised at the 
different views taken of two naval battles fought 
at periods so near to each other as the 1st of 
June, 1794, and that by Sir Robert Calder on 
the 22nd July, 1805. In the first instance, the 
force was equal; the result, the defeat of the 



NAVAL HISTORY. 277 

enemy, and the capture of seven of his line-of- 
battle ships. In the latter, the force was fifteen 
English to twenty combined French and Spani- 
ards. In this case, also, the enemy was defeated, 
and two ships of the line taken ; but how dif- 
ferent the result! The 1st of June was hailed 
as a glorious victory; peerages and promotion 
given to the officers, and the thanks of Parlia- 
ment: the 22nd of July received as a defeat; 
the commander-in-chief tried by a court-martial, 
and reprimanded for not doing more. It is far 
from our intention to impugn the judgment of 
the Court — we think it strictly correct : there 
could be no more doubt of it being the com- 
mander-in-chief's duty to accept the battle of- 
fered by the enemy on the 24th, as much as it 
was to attack them on the 22nd; but what 
award must the same Court have given, had 
their deliberations been directed to the battle of 
the 1st of June? 

In all that has been said, either by Captain 
Brenton or by the writer of this work, upon the 
subject of the 1st of June, not the slightest in- 
tention of bringing into question the great and 
nobly-earned character of Lord Howe is in- 
tended, or can be implied. See page 274 of the 



278 NAVAL HISTORY. 

first volume of Brenton's "Naval History ;" 
where, in describing Lord Howe's conduct in 
taking his fleet into action, he writes: "His 
lordship, turning to the master of the ship, said, 
'I now close my signal-book, and I trust I shall 
have no occasion to open it to-day.' This was 
the language of an officer confiding in the valour 
of his captains, and determined, after having ob- 
tained a proper situation for commencing the 
action, to do his own duty, and to set an ex- 
ample to his followers." The opinion of Lord 
Howe's merits, throughout the whole course of 
his career, was general in his profession; and all 
would readily acknowledge the justice of Mr. 
Fox's observations, made in the House of Com- 
mons, when the motion for a vote of thanks was 
proposed, that "there was not a man in that 
house, or in the country, who had given higher 
satisfaction, in all his professional life, than the 
noble earl had." 

It is to be admitted, and regretted, that in- 
vidious distinctions were made with regard to 
some of the captains who were engaged on the 
1st of June ; two of whom, particularly, had 
reason to feel deeply wounded at the omission 
of their names on the list of those who had 



NAVAL HISTORY. 270 

done their duty : we allude to Collingwood and 
Domett especially. Schomberg's observations 
were very just upon the occasion, and we quote 
tliem from his "Naval Chronology:" 

" The meritorious conduct of these officers 
was. no doubt, deserving of so distinguished a 
mark of royal favour : how far such selections 
may be consistent with the well-being of so im- 
portant a service as that of the British Navy, in 
which every officer is supposed, on like occa- 
sions, to act to the best of his ability, needs no 
comment. If, in the presence of an enemy, or 
in action, a commander appears deficient either 
in courage or in conduct, it is more candid and 
decided in a commander-in-chief to have such 
conduct investigated before a public tribunal, 
rather than leave a doubt on the minds of his 
country, by such oblique insinuations, that some 
have fallen short of their duty." 

We quite accord with these sentiments. It 
has been urged, that in the splendid campaigns 
of the Duke of Wellington, similar selections 
were made ; but upon reference to the corre- 
spondence of that most distinguished comman- 
der, it appears that the selections were made 
from the positions in which corps, or divisions, 



280 NAVAL HISTORY. 

or regiments were placed. The commanders of 
each of these within the reach of musketry were 
named for the honours of the day — the artillery, 
of course, were excepted from the rule. When 
an officer was omitted, a reason was assignable, 
as appears in many of the answers given to the 
appeals of those who thought themselves injured. 
The account given of the intrepid and seaman- 
like conduct of Vice- Admiral the Honourable 
W. Cornwallis is well worthy of the admiration 
and study of naval officers; they will there see 
the effect of compact union, and undeviating 
firmness. His little squadron consisted of only 
five sail of the line, two frigates, and a sloop — 
viz., the Royal Sovereign, 110; Mars, Bellero- 
phon, Triumph, and Brunswick, of 74 each; 
Phieton, 38; Pallas, 32; and Kingfisher brig, 
18. They were chased by thirteen sail of the 
line, fourteen frigates, and two brigs. The con- 
templation of events of this description is ad- 
mirably calculated to shew that there is no room 
for despair as long as a ship is left in possession 
of her masts and sails, however great the dis- 
parity of force might be. The admiral would 
doubtless have been justified, had the Mars been 
taken in consequence of her falling to leeward, 



NAVAL HISTORY. 281 

had the other ships of his squadron obtained 
safety for themselves, under such circumstances. 
But Cornwallis did not for a moment hesitate; 
but gallantly risked the whole squadron, in his 
determination to save the Mars; and his decision 
had such an effect upon his enemies, that they 
would not venture in close action with him: he 
brought off his whole squadron in triumph, and his 
success was most justly appreciated as a victory. 

We shall now offer a few observations on the 
Twenty-third of June — better known as Lord 
Bridport's action. 

The remarks which precede the account of 
this action, respecting the supine state of the 
channel fleet, naturally have given great offence 
to the numerous officers serving in it, and were 
omitted in the second edition; but we think im- 
properly. The charge had been made, and 
should either have been maintained or retracted. 
The statement having, however, been widely cir- 
culated in the first edition, it becomes necessary 
to notice it here. We do not hesitate to appeal 
to the officers of the navy who were in the 
general service of that day, whether there was 
not too much ground for the charge of supine- 



282 NAVAL HISTORY. 

ness? In the frigate squadrons, all was energy 
and activity; but not so with the ships of the 
line: "the team/' as they were facetiously term- 
ed, employed in a monotonous and wearisome 
blockade of the port of Brest, having no enemy 
to cope with, or any thing to excite the energies 
of either officers or seamen, a relaxation of dis- 
cipline, and a reluctance to leave these ports, 
had gradually been increasing. To this, Lord 
St. Vincent ascribed the rise of the mutiny; and 
when he obtained the command of the Channel 
Fleet, was induced, by this opinion, to the 
strongest measures. We do not mean to ad- 
vocate the extreme to which this feeling induced 
him to go on the other side. It is another of 
the many proofs we all experience, that the re- 
verse of wrong is not always right; but it gives 
satisfactory evidence that there did exist a want 
of activity, at this time, in the most important 
portion of our naval service. 

The action of the 23rd of June, 1795, having 
been a running fight, terminated by the enemy 
having reached their own coast. Captain Bren- 
ton, in concluding his account of the affair, says, 
"This victory would have been more complete, 
if the commander-in-chief had not recalled the 



NAVAL HISTORY. 283 

fleet from action: there can be no danger of one 
three-decker following another. It is true, the 
coast was not so well known to our officers at 
that period as in the subsequent part of the war, 
when we were accustomed, by way of exercising 
our great guns, to run between Groix and the 
main-land." 

Mr. James, in his contemporary history, says, 
" As soon as M. Vilaret had recovered from his 
surprize at the unaccountable forbearance of 
Lord Bridport, he called a council of war," &c. 
Which of these authors is most severe upon the 
British admiral is for their readers to judge: 
both evidently hint that more might have been 
done. 

It is freely admitted, that in his account of 
the battle of the 14th of February, 1797, off 
Cape St. Vincent, the author has been too con- 
cise ; and it can only be accounted for by the 
conflicting statements made by so many different 
writers, all perhaps endeavouring to supply the 
deficiences, as they may have thought, of the 
official letter of the commander-in-chief. 

It has always appeared to me, that, in the va- 
rious details of this battle, the great and heroic 



284 NAVAL HISTORY. 

exertions of the few men who were enabled to 
bring their ships into action, were too lightly 
passed over, in the desire to build up Lord 
Nelson's fame; who was at that period so justly 
becoming the favourite, if not the idol, of the 
service. That he stood most prominent in dis- 
tinction, among those most actively engaged 
that day, is undoubtedly true; and to him and 
the gallant Trowbridge and Collingwood it was 
chiefly owing that the Spaniards were frustrated 
in their attempt to regain the ships of their rear, 
which had been separated by the vigour and de- 
cision of the onset. That Lord Nelson's con- 
duct was beyond all praise, upon that occasion, 
no one can question: his decision in wearing to 
assist the Culloden, and the energy with which 
he continued the action against the tremendous 
force opposed to him, has never been exceeded; 
but the denouement of capturing the 84, and 
the first-rate, by boarding, is better calculated 
for stage effect than for the sober details of 
history — as they were evidently beaten ships, 
and, as must appear even by the detail, requir- 
ing only to be taken possession of. They were 
beaten, it is true, by Nelson himself, among 
others, who had been continually engaged with 



NAVAL HISTORY. 285 

them, and others near them, for three hours be- 
fore he fell on board of the San Nicholas. We 
are quite ready, also, to give Nelson the credit 
he so justly deserved in his gallant conduct, and 
say that we believe he did expect resistance 
when he boarded the San Nicholas; and that he 
was led to the daring attack by the hope of in- 
suring her capture. But what Ave do object to 
is, that the merits of the day appear to be ab- 
sorbed in this magnificent display of daring in- 
trepidity. As an eye-witness of the action, the 
impression has ever been fixed upon our mind, 
that the glory of the 14th of February, in the 
first place, belongs to the daring chief, who 
brought an enemy of so overwhelming a dis- 
parity of force to action, and, in the next, to 
those fortunate ships who were enabled to close 
with their antagonists, and so nobly fulfilled the 
high expectation of their admiral. Those ships 
we do not hesitate to name, and they well de- 
serve the distinction; they were the Culloden, 
Prince George, Blenheim, Captain, Orion, Ir- 
resistible, Excellent, and Colossus. The other 
seven were but partially engaged; but this arose 
from their station in the line, and their inability 
to reach a position in which they could find op- 



286 NAVAL HISTORY. 

ponents. The rencontre between the Victory 
and the Principe de Asturies was a beautiful 
display of decision and seamanship on the part 
of our commander-in-chief; but it was the only 
opportunity he had, in the course of the day, of 
producing an effect by the fire of his own ship: 
that upon the Salvador, which actually took 
place both from the Victory and Barfleur, ap- 
peared useless, although the Spanish colours 
were still flying, the last broadside from the Ex- 
cellent having completely silenced that ship. 

It was by the circumstances to which we have 
adverted, that we believe Captain Brenton was 
influenced in giving the very limited account of 
this splendid day, for such it was, to England, to 
her admiral, and her navy. We think the author 
perfectly justified in the encomiums he has be- 
stowed upon it. Mr. James, on the other hand, 
in his account of this battle, takes a less favour- 
able view ; the success of the British fleet is, we 
think, rather unfairly accounted for, by placing 
that of the Spaniards on the very lowest scale 
possible as to the state of their crews. He says, 
— "One fact is certain, that the crews of the 
Spanish ships were the most worthless that can 
be conceived, they were composed of pressed 



NAVAL HISTORY. 287 

landsmen, and soldiers of the new levy, with 
about sixty, or at most eighty, seamen to each 
ship." Now this statement must be very ques- 
tionable, when it is considered that the battle off 
Cape St. Vincent was the first in which the Spa- 
niards were engaged since the peace of 1783. 
We are ready to admit that the Spanish navy 
has not, for many years, been considered a very 
formidable enemy, but still her seamen were 
much of the same description as they had been in 
the American war. There had been no imme- 
diate cause, that we knew of, for their deteriora- 
tion, or for the diminution of their numbers ; and 
Mr. James himself, in relating the action which 
took place on the preceding 13th of October, be- 
tween the Terpsichore and Mahonesa, after de- 
scribing the force of each ship, says — " Admitting, 
therefore, the Terpsichore to have had her full 
complement at quarters, we should pronounce 
this to be as fair a match as an English officer 
would wish to fight, or an English writer to re- 
cord." 

The same author, in speaking of the battle of 
St. Vincent, hints at Captain Brenton's incon- 
sistency, who, in relating the action between the 
Terpsichore and Mahonesa, observes, " There is 



288 NAVAL HISTORY. 

little credit to be gained in conquering such an- 
tagonists ;" and when speaking of the 14th of 
February, says, "From this day the old fashion 
of counting the enemy's fleet, and calculating 
disparity of force, was entirely laid aside, and a 
new era may be said to have commenced in the 
art of war at sea." It is to be recollected, that 
in the single action between the frigates, the 
force was equal, and in that of the fleets, an 
enormous superiority on the part of the Spaniard. 
This seems fully to justify the qualification in 
one instance, and the panegyric on the other. 
I believe, that what the Spaniards were under 
Langara, when defeated by Rodney, in 1782, 
and what they were in the frigate contests when 
the Mahonesa, Sabina, and Dorotea were taken, 
they were in the battle of the 14th of February. 
It was a most remarkable feature in the cha- 
racter of Lord St. Vincent, that he was com- 
pletely above the narrow feelings of jealousy by 
which the lustre of many great characters has 
been obscured. He was well aware of the efforts 
made to give to Nelson the chief credit for the 
success of this great day. No one could better 
appreciate the intrepidity and distinguished con- 
duct of the commodore than the commander-in- 



NAVAL HISTORY. 289 

chief. This was manifested by his receiving him 
into his arms on board the Victory at the con- 
clusion of the contest, and by his expressions of 
admiration and gratitude; and in no instance 
was he ever known to deny or contradict the 
statements evidently intended to rob him (St. 
Vincent) of a large portion of the glory of the 
day; nor do we know that he ever would allow 
a word to drop from him in conversation, by 
which the slightest question could arise upon 
the subject; and we believe that it was by his 
advice to Captain Brenton that the account of 
the action was so limited in his history. 

Whilst engaged in writing these observations, 
we have accidentally received the second series of 
Lord Brougham's "Historical Sketches of States- 
men of the Reign of George the Third;" amongst 
which are the characters of Earl St. Vincent 
and Lord Nelson, included in the same article; 
and cannot resist the desire to quote a pas- 
sage which so forcibly confirms the opinion we 
have just given: "So little effect on exalted 
spirits," says Lord Brougham, "have the grovel- 
ling acts of little souls. He knew, all the while, 
how attempts had been made by Lord Nelson's 
flatterers, to set him up as the true hero of the 

u 



290 NAVAL HISTORY. 

14th of February; but never, for an instant, did 
the feelings towards Nelson cross his mind, by 
which inferior natures would have been swayed. 
In spite of all these invidious arts, he magnani- 
mously sent him to Abouku\, and by unparallel- 
ed exertions, which Jervis alone could make, 
armed him with the means of eclipsing his own 
fame. The mind of the historian, weary with 
recounting the deeds of human baseness, and 
mortified with contemplating the frailty of illus- 
trious men, gathers a soothing refreshment from 
such scenes as these, where kindred genius, ex- 
citing only mutual admiration and honest rivalry, 
gives birth to no feeling of jealousy or envy, and 
the character which stamps real greatness is 
found in the genuine value and native splendour 
of the mass, as well as in the outward beauty of 
the die: the highest talents sustained by the 
purest virtue, the capacity of the statesman, and 
the valour of the hero, outshone by the magnani- 
mous heart which beats only to the measures of 
generosity and justice."* 

Battle of Camperdown. 
The account of this battle has been almost as 

* Lord Brougham's " Historical Sketches," Second Series, p. 165. 



NAVAL HISTORY. 291 

concise as that of the 14th of February, and 
probably from a similar reason, preferring to 
be guided by the official details, to receiving 
the private accounts of officers, all equally 
and actively engaged. Nothing could exceed 
the energy and undaunted conduct of the 
commander-in-chief, by whose zeal and prompt- 
ness of action the enemy were prevented from 
availing themselves of their proximity to their 
own shore, which could only be effected by in- 
stantly breaking their line, and getting between 
them and their port. " Here," says the author, 
"was no delay, no unnecessary manoeuvres in 
forming lines and making dispositions. The Bri- 
tish Admiral, to use a sea phrase, dashed at 
them; and, at half-past twelve at noon, cut 
through their line, and got between them and 
their own coast. No means of retreat was al- 
lowed, and a general action ensued, and, by the 
greatest part of the Dutch fleet, was bravely 
maintained." 

The gallant and distinguished conduct of the 
admiral in the Venerable, and the vice-admiral 
in the Monarch, was a glorious example to the 
British fleet, and nobly followed, particularly by 
the Bedford, Powerful, Ardent, Bellequeux, 



292 NAVAL HISTORY. 

Lancaster, Triumph, and Monmouth. To these 
ships the glory of the day was, under Provi- 
dence, chiefly attributable; but especially to the 
inflexible resolution of their gallant chief, who 
fearlessly sought and obtained a victory on a lee 
shore, in nine fathoms water, and in the imme- 
diate vicinity of the enemy's harbour. We may 
conclude, that the whole of the proceedings of 
this eventful day could afford but little more 
field for description than what has been given 
here, as James, with his great and laudable in- 
dustry in searching through the logs of every 
ship in the fleet, could extract but little more 
information, and, in his own account, makes no 
reference to that of his contemporary. 

Captain Brenton's summing up is, we believe, 
most accurate. He says, " This was one of the 
severest, and certainly the most decisive en- 
gagement that ever was fought between the 
two nations, and produced an effect upon the 
maritime power of Europe highly advantageous 
to the character and interests of the British 
Empire. Had the event been different, the 
northern powers would not have hesitated to 
have joined France for the purpose of our sub- 
jugation; and, to their blind revenge, would 



NAVAL HISTORY. 293 

have sacrificed their own existence. By the 
defeat of the Dutch fleet, on the eastern coast, 
the designs of the French Directory were com- 
pletely disconcerted on the western side of the 
kingdom." (Vol. ii. p. 107.) 

It has been a source of much regret that the 
family of Lord Duncan should have been dis- 
pleased at some passage in Captain Brenton's 
"Naval History." We have sought in vain 
for it in the account of the battle of Cam- 
perdown. We can hardly imagine that the 
manner in which he has described the crews 
of the Dutch ships, as having given cause of 
offence. It appears to arise from a wish to do 
justice to a gallant enemy. It can in no manner 
detract from the glory of Lord Duncan, whose 
conduct could, under no circumstances, have 
been more brilliant; although it may account for 
the escape of a portion of the Dutch fleet, which, 
had they all displayed the valour evinced by the 
captured ships, would in all probability have ac- 
companied them to a British port. We should 
rather attribute the cause of disapprobation to 
a paragraph respecting the unfortunate mutiny. 
This passage is evidently obscure, and capable 
of being misunderstood. It is as follows: "It 



294 NAVAL HISTORY. 

is a fact, that after the pacification of the Chan- 
nel Fleet, which consisted of the largest, best 
manned, and what were termed the finest ships 
in the British Navy, that of the North Seas, 
deprived of such auxiliaries, might, with the 
exertion of a little firmness and temperate 
punishment, have been reduced to obedience, 
and the fatal consequences which ensued have 
been entirely prevented." (Vol. I. p. 282.) 

But the very preceding paragraph would con- 
vince any reader that no censure was implied in 
this passage ; the very circumstance being ac- 
counted for, and every justice done to the cha- 
racter of Lord Duncan, in these words : " But 
the admiral, remarkable for uniting in his own 
person the most undaunted courage with the most 
benevolent heart, forgave them upon a promise of 
their never repeating the offence; and it must be 
owned that the crew of the Venerable, by their 
subsequent conduct, perfectly redeemed their cha- 
racter." This we consider to be complete justifi- 
cation to Lord Duncan. Lord Duncan appears 
also with additional lustre by the part he took 
during such a period, of remaining more than three 
months, with merely a single ship, watching the 
movements of his enemies in the Texel: thus 



NAVAL HISTORY. 295 

evincing and expressing the confidence that, 
should the Dutch fleet put to sea, it would be 
the means of at once rallying round him his 
hitherto refractory seamen. 

Battle of the Nile. 

Captain Brenton says, (p. 394, vol. i. 2d. edit.) 
"that Nelson was named by Lord St. Vin- 
cent to command the squadron, destined to watch 
the motions of that fitting out at Toulon, simul- 
taneously with Lord Spencer." We believe the 
fact to be, that he was recommended by Lord St. 
Vincent to Lord Spencer for this purpose, as the 
man of all others the best qualified for the com- 
mand, and the result proved the selection to be 
a most judicious one. The account of this action 
is more minute than that of any of the preceding 
battles ; and as the contemporary historian finds 
but little fault with any of the statements, he 
could object to very little — their principal differ- 
ence arises from the distances given by each of 
the French ships from each other — in which, it 
is probable, neither may be very exact. This, 
however, is not very important. It is evident 
that the account given by the Rev. Cooper 
Willyams, quoted by Captain Brenton, was sub- 



296 



NAVAL HISTORY. 



stantially correct; not that his situation as chap- 
lain would give him the opportunity of making 
very accurate personal observations, but we know 
that he was diligent in his endeavours to procure 
the most correct information, and that he had 
recourse to the very best authorities for the pur- 
pose of obtaining it. 

The details given by Captain Brenton of the 
conduct of each ship, as she came into action, 
must be highly gratifying to the relatives of their 
gallant officers and crews; none are omitted, and 
all came in for their proper share of fame for their 
exertions on that glorious night. Nor was the gal- 
lant Troubridge forgotten — the heavy and trying 
loss of distinction which he met with upon this 
occasion, only called forth the remembrance of 
what he had formerly gained, and enabled the 
author to bring him before his grateful country 
in his true light, vindicating him from the sense- 
less charge of despair, and adding, with peculiar 
felicity, " No man ever possessed himself more 
fully in the hour of danger than Troubridge. His 
ship on shore in a most perilous situation, it was 
the time of all others for a display of those talents 
he was known to possess; nor was it without the 
utmost exertion that he succeeded in saving his 



NAVAL HISTORY. 297 

ship, and getting her off the reef on the morning 
of the 2d of August, with the loss of her rudder, 
and discharging the incredible quantity of one 
hundred and twenty tons of water in one hour." 
As a corroboration of the just opinion Captain 
Brenton had formed of this truly inestimable and 
highly valued officer, we quote with pleasure the 
following passage from Mr. James' account of 
this battle: 

" Strictly speaking, too, only the captains that 
had been engaged were to have medals, but the 
king himself expressly authorized Lord Spencer 
to present one to Captain Troubridge, for his 
services both before and since, and for the great 
and wonderful exertions he had made at the time 
of the action, in saving and getting off his ship. 
Nelson's opinion of this officer may be summed 
up in his own energetic words, when writing to 
Earl St. Vincent, ' The eminent services of our 
friend deserve the very highest reward. I have 
experienced the ability and activity of his mind 
and body. It was Troubridge who equipped the 
squadron so soon at Syracuse — it was Troubridge 
that exerted himself for me after the action — it 
was Troubridge who saved the Culloden, when 
none that I knew in the service would have at- 



298 NAVAL HISTORY. 

tempted it — it is Troubridge I have left as my- 
self at Naples — lie is, as a friend and an officer, 
a nonpareil.'" — James, vol. ii., p. 187. (2d edit.) 

As my intention is by no means to write a 
naval history, but to explain or defend any pas- 
sages in the work of my late brother, against which 
charges have been brought, the observations I 
have to offer upon this glorious battle will be 
necessarily few, but I trust what I have said 
respecting the gallant and highly meritorious 
Troubridge, will not be deemed unreasonable. 
I knew him well, have sailed with him, and 
always viewed him as one of the very first officers 
of the British navy. 

We have reason to know that the account of 
the deplorable proceedings in the Bay of Naples, 
which ended in the cruel execution of Prince 
Carracioli, gave great offence, and occasioned 
considerable censure being brought against Cap- 
tain Brenton by those who, in their idolatry of 
Lord Nelson, could not be persuaded that the 
then fearful statements were but too well-founded. 
All that is necessary for his vindication upon this 
head, is a reference to the biography of Lord 
Nelson by Clark and M e Arthur, to the Naval 
History of James, and to the sketch of the cha- 



NAVAL HISTORY. 299 

racter of Lord Nelson by Lord Brougham. We 
believe that by comparing these passages with the 
statement made by Captain Brenton, the latter 
will be found far less severe than either.* 

Battle of Copenhagen. 

Our author is said, by his contemporary his- 
torian, to have entered upon the narrative of this 
day with even more than his usual conciseness. 
He has, however, devoted twelve pages to it, and 
has given a plan of the harbour of Copenhagen, 
with the positions of the ships on both sides, 
which may be received as tolerably correct, as 
Mr. James only objected to the stations of the 
Bellona and Russell, which ships grounded in 
running in. This chapter contains much valu- 
able information as to the cause of this attack 
upon the Danish fleet and capital, with just re- 
flections upon the consequences. The insertion 
of the Gazette letter in this case appears to be 
indispensable, and renders the narrative from any 
other source unnecessary. It was a beautiful 
trait in the character of Lord Nelson, that he was 
not only anxious to give the due meed of praise 

* See Clarke and M ( Arthur, Vol. ii. p. 184. James, Vol. ii. 
p. 277. Lord Brougham, Second Series, p. 171. 



300 NAVAL HISTORY. 

to those who had the happiness of distinguishing 
themselves under his command, but equally so to 
shield them from censure, where efforts to fulfil 
their duty had not been crowned with success. 
His lordship gives a very striking instance of this 
kindness of heart in his official letter, in which 
he says — " From the very intricate navigation, 
the Bellona and Russell unfortunately grounded; 
but although not in the situation assigned them, 
yet so placed as to be of great service. The 
Agamemnon could not weather the shoal in the 
middle, and was obliged to anchor; but not the 
smallest blame can be attached to Captain Fan- 
court, it was an event to which all the ships were 
liable." The summing up is peculiarly Nelsonian. 
" The action began at five minutes past ten ; the 
van was led by Captain George Murray, of the 
Edgar, who set a noble example of intrepidity, 
which was so well followed up by every captain, 
officer, and man in the squadron."* The con- 
cluding remark by our author must be noticed — 
" One singularity attending this celebrated action 
seems to have escaped the public notice. We 
mean the denial (qr. withholding) any mark of 
royal approbation on Nelson and his captains. 

* See Gazette Letter. 



NAVAL HISTORY. 301 

Rear- Admiral Graves was created a knight of 
the Bath — the first lieutenants of the ships in 
action promoted to the rank of commanders, and 
the usual thanks of Parliament voted, but no 
medals were given, or other honours conferred. 
We account for the omission by supposing that 
his Majesty, nearly allied by the ties of blood to 
the crown of Denmark, wished to bury the un- 
happy quarrel in oblivion, but Nelson, to the 
hour of his death, complained of the injustice 
done to his captains." — Vol. iii. p. 547. 

Nor was the complaint of Lord Nelson un- 
founded. We cannot conceive any possible reason 
for such a distinction. Not only our naval history, 
but general history would keep alive the re- 
membrance of this great and awful event, to be 
deplored by both countries. The only difference 
between this war and any other consists in its 
brevity; and we should recollect that if it was 
begun by one man, at the head of a detached 
squadron, so it was carried on, and ended by him 
and his gallant followers in the course of a few 
short hours — a circumstance which, so far from 
weakening their claim to distinction, and to the 
honours so liberally bestowed upon our victorious 
countrymen upon all other occasions, appears 



302 NAVAL HISTORY. 

to have strengthened it to an irresistible degree. 
It was a singular and gratifying coincidence, 
that the newspapers which gave the detail of the 
battle of Copenhagen,, and were brought out to 
the squadron employed in the blockade of Brest, 
under Sir James Saumarez, also contained an 
account of the landing of the British army in 
Egypt, and its subsequent victory over the French 
near Alexandria. The rear-admiral directed the 
hands to be turned up, and both accounts to be 
read to them, to which they responded by long 
and continued cheering. 

Actions of Algeciras and the Straits of 
Gibraltar. 

In reviewing my brother's account of these 
actions, and answering the objections brought 
against it by Mr. James, I feel myself placed in 
a situation of peculiar delicacy, from the sta- 
tion I occupied in the squadron : I freely ac- 
knowledge that the information on which it was 
founded was derived from myself, with some 
very slight exceptions, and that I am bound to 
meet the charges as they stand in the pages of 
the contemporary historian. 

The first objection which I feel called upon to 



NAVAL HISTORY. 303 

notice is at p. 121, 3rd vol., (second edition,) 
in which he says : " The writer informs us that 
the Venerable was directed by the admiral to 
anchor between the batteries of Algeciras and 
Green Island." I pass over the sarcasm which 
follows, and shall merely state, that as Green 
Island is to the south and the batteries of Al- 
geciras to the northward of the town, and that 
the French squadron lay between these extremi- 
ties, it is not improbable that the admiral might 
have so worded his orders, although I am not 
aware that he did so; but if this were the case, 
it could only have been with a view of leaving 
to Captain Hood's discretion the position he 
should take with regard to the enemy — that 
the ships following him should be guided in 
anchoring with a view to his support. With 
respect to the intention of anchoring, I know 
that, had the wind been steady, so as to enable 
the ships to take up a favourable position, they 
would have been kept under way; but the con- 
tingency was provided for of a necessity for an- 
choring, and the cables were passed out of the 
gun-room ports in readiness. I come now to 
what I consider the most serious part of the 
charge, which is, I admit, at variance with the 



304 NAVAL HISTORY. 

defence of Captain Ferris. Mr. James says, 
(p. 121,) "We cannot, however, leave unnoticed 
the statement, that 'at about twelve o'clock, 
Captain Ferris hauled down his colours, and 
surrendered;' nor the charge against the Han- 
nibal's captain, conveyed in these words, 'Nothing 
could exceed the decision and intrepidity of Cap- 
tain Ferris, although the result of his manoeuvre 
was unfortunate.' It is however due to Sir 
James Saumarez to state, that the squadron did 
not withdraw from action until the Hannibal had 
surrendered. A contrary assertion is made in 
the narrative of Captain Ferris: an unaccount- 
able error, proving that the most correct officers 
may sometimes be deceived, and the more to be 
lamented in this instance as bearing the sanction 
of an official document." 

To this quotation Mr. James adds: — "Our 
complaint against Captain Ferris is, that his ac- 
count of the time which intervened between the 
ships driving out of the bay, and the surrender 
of the Hannibal, is not very clearly expressed — 
the Captain might, with propriety, have stated 
that the Hannibal did not strike her colours un- 
til nearly half-an-hour after Sir James Saumarez, 
from unavoidable causes undoubtedly, had dis- 



NAVAL HISTORY. 305 

continued the action, and made sail for Gibraltar. 
Such was the fact." Here, then, we are at issue 
with Mr. James. I shall confine myself in an- 
swering this passage to the statement of circum- 
stances, of which I have a perfect recollection, 
having been deeply impressed upon my mind at 
the time, and the impression strengthened by 
the subsequent agitation of the question. In the 
first place, the circumstance of the Hannibal's 
colours being reversed, was reported to me a con- 
siderable time before we discontinued the action. 
It was considered as a signal of distress by the 
Admiral, and boats accordingly were ordered to 
assist her. I will next appeal to the logs of the 
Spencer, Audacious, and Venerable, as to the 
period at which the Hannibal struck.* 

But the clear and decided testimony of another 
eye-witness — of one personally engaged, and in- 
volved in the fate of the Hannibal — must be irre- 
sistible. Col. Connolly, of the Royal Marines, 
then acting as captain of marines on board the 
Hannibal, when asked whether the enemy took 
possession of the Hannibal before her colours 
were hoisted union downwards, answers — 

"The colours were hauled down by Captain 

" Ross's "Life of Lord de Saumarez." Vol. i. p. 373. 
X 



306 NAVAL HISTORY. 

Ferris' orders, and remained so, but being so near 
the Formidable, the captain of her was on board 
in five minutes after we had struck, and the 
colours were hoisted union downwards hy the French- 
man." 

He was then asked — " Were the colours hoisted 
union down by the enemy, or at any time by Cap- 
tain Ferris' orders?" 

Ans. — "By the enemy" 

Quest. 3d. — " Did the boats (of the British 
squadron) come before, or after the colours were 
hoisted union downwards, to render her assist- 
ance?" 

Ans. — a The boats from our ships did not get 
near us till after we were in possession of the enemy, 
and I called on an old shipmate of mine in the 
Venerable's barge, and told him so as he came under 
the starboard quarter, but he persisted in coming on 
board, and ivas taken" 

I think I have now proved that in the account 
given by Captain Brenton of this action, he had 
at least good authority for the statements im- 
pugned by Mr. James; and I shall conclude my 
own share of this controversy by asking this sim- 
ple question, arising out of the defence made by 
Captain Ferris, in which he says : " About twelve 



NAVAL HISTORY. 307 

o'clock our ships were all out of gun-shot of the 
enemy, and we had the fire of the whole French 
squadron, batteries, and gunboats to contend with 
alone, against which we continued to keep up as 
brisk a fire as could be expected, even by men in 
the most sanguine expectation of victory, until 
near two o'clock." 

It is acknowledged on all hands that Sir James 
Saumarez ordered the boats of the squadron to 
assist the Hannibal, in consequence of her colours 
being reversed, and this while he, with all the 
rest of the squadron, with the exception of the 
Pompee, were still in action with the enemy. 
Now if, according to Captain Ferris, the ships 
were all out of gun-shot about twelve, and he 
did not strike till near two, what became of these 
boats? Did they remain nearly two hours under 
the enemy's guns, after their own ships had re- 
treated to Gibraltar, and only get alongside the 
Hannibal after she was taken possession of by the 
enemy? That they were captured alongside the 
Hannibal is evident from Colonel Connolly's 
evidence, who warned the officer of the Vene- 
rable's barge, that they were in possession of the 
French, but not hearing the warning, was made 
prisoner, with his boafs crew. 



308 NAVAL HISTORY. 

Mr. James next proceeds to invalidate Captain 
Brenton's statement, that Lenois refused in the 
first instance to agree to an exchange of prisoners. 
This however is a fact. I went over with a flag 
of truce the day after the action to make the pro- 
posal, which Lenois refused, alleging that he 
must wait the return of the messenger which he 
had despatched to Paris as soon as the last gun 
had been fired on the preceding day. Mr. James 
concludes his doubting paragraph by saying — 
"At all events, both Captain Ferris and Lord 
Cochrane, with their respective officers, the sole 
object we believe of Captain Jahleel Brenton's 
mission, were in England in the month of 
August." To this I reply, that the personal 
comfort of Captain Ferris, Lord Cochrane, and 
their officers, Sir James Saumarez had undoubt- 
edly much at heart; but the great object was to 
procure an exchange of prisoners, that he might 
make up for the heavy loss in killed and wounded, 
by distributing among the ships of the squadron 
the crews of the Hannibal and Speedy. Ad- 
miral Lenois, although he refused to listen to the 
proposal of an exchange, the next day sent over 
all the officers on parole, knowing that they could 
not serve until regularly exchanged. After, 



NAVAL HISTORY. 309 

however, the second action on the 12th of July, 
when he was anxious to get back the Frenchmen 
taken in the St. Antoine, he volunteered a cartel 
for the purpose himself, although his messenger 
could not have returned from Paris. 

Having now touched upon the principal points 
of difference between the historians, and en- 
deavoured to shew, that Captain Brenton, if in 
error, was at all events deceived himself by what 
he considered as good authority, I shall con- 
clude my observations upon this part of the naval 
history. But as I have been unfortunately obliged 
to come forward in a much more prominent way 
than I could have wished upon this occasion, it 
may be as well to dispose of the subjects in which 
I am personally concerned at once, without any 
further reference to them. The gallant officer 
who has edited the second edition of James' 
" Naval History," has made a few observations 
respecting the situation of the Gibraltar upon the 
Pearl Rock in the following words: "Mr. James 
says the mainsail was set, and Sir Jahleel (the 
first Lieutenant of the ship at the time) declares 
it was not set." I have no fault to find with the 
manner in which this statement is made. It is 
in the conciliatory tone of gentlemanly feelings, 



310 NAVAL HISTORY. 

and as such I wish to receive it. I will there- 
fore proceed to explain to the gallant editor what 
he will at once understand — that the order to 
set the mainsail was recorded by the master's 
mate, who, having heard it given, inserted it in 
the log, without taking the trouble to ascertain 
whether the tack was on board, or the sheet aft. 
It is not saying too much, to assert that the first 
lieutenant of the ship was better authority upon 
this subject than the mate of the watch. We 
trust this statement will satisfy the gallant editor 
as to this particular circumstance ; but before 
we quit the subject, we have to notice the pas- 
sage in James's second edition, in which he con- 
demns with some severity an expression used 
by Captain Brenton in this account of the 
Gibraltar, viz : — "that the crew assembled on the 
deck, and testified by their screams and actions 
every symptom of despair." We quite agree 
that the word objected to was ill chosen, and that 
Mr. James wrote his account of the loss of the 
Amazon in better taste in this respect. He 
says, "She struck. Shrieks issued from every 
part of the ship, and all was horror and dismay." 
We concede the greater propriety of the word 
chosen by Mr. James, but can see no reason, 



NAVAL HISTORY. 311 

why in one case, the conduct of the people should 
be described as more characteristic of timid fe- 
males than of British seamen, and that in the 
other no such idea should present itself."* 

Once more, and to conclude this subject. 
Captain Chamier says in his preface, (page xxxii:) 
"But there is one question in James which 
Captain Brenton has not answered, and which, 
with his permission, we will put again. The 
Pearl Rock, on which Sir Jahleel asserts the 
Gibraltar struck, lies about a mile and a half due 
south, and Cape Malabata, the N. E. point of 
Tangier Bay, on the opposite side of the strait, 
about 22 miles S. W. of Cabrita Point, how then, 
with the wind at E. S. E. could the Gibraltar 
want to weather Cabrita Point to get into Tangier 
Bay?" We are not at all surprised at Mr. 
James putting such a question, but very much 
so at the naval editor repeating it, which he 
would not have done had he taken the trouble to 
look over the chart of the Bay of Gibraltar, to 
have observed the bearings, and particularly the 
distance from the Gibraltar's position in Rosea 
Bay to the Pearl Rock. It must also be taken 
into consideration that the Gibraltar drove from 

* James, Vol. iii. p. 14. (2nd edit.) 



312 NAVAL HISTORY. 

her station with two anchors hanging from her 
bows, with a whole cable upon each, and soon 
after the sheet anchor added to these at the end 
of its whole range: that some time elapsed be- 
fore the Captain could decide upon cutting the 
cables, and causing sail to be made upon the 
ship; and that when the order was given for this 
purpose, the topsails having been furled with 
only two reefs in, it was necessary to close reef 
them; and that the wind blowing a hurricane at 
this time, the sails were split as they fell from the 
yards, whilst the ship was lying in the trough of 
the sea, and driving rapidly over to the Spanish 
shore. We think that had the gallant officer 
commanded a ship under such circumstances, and 
known that there was a rock on his lee bow, and 
but a short distance from him, he would have 
felt at once, without being prompted to put the 
question by a landman, why the Gibraltar could 
want to weather Cabrita Point, putting Tangier 
Bay and Cape Malabata out of the question. 
Nor did any intention exist of running the 
Gibraltar into that Bay, the object being solely 
to get her into the fair way of the straits. Mr. 
James appears even to doubt, and his editor to 
sanction the opinion that the Gibraltar did not 



NAVAL HISTORY. 313 

strike upon the Pearl Rock, but upon a bank off 
Cabrita Point. One glance at the chart would 
satisfy any reader as to this question. As I sent 
Captain Brenton my account of this almost mira- 
culous escape, which he has published verbatim 
in his reply to James's statement, in page 20, in 
the first volume of his second edition, I beg to 
refer the reader to it for the more minute 
particulars. 

Battle of Trafalgar. *• 

Our author's account of this battle is only ob- 
jected to by his contemporary on account of its 
brevity, but we hope that question is disposed of 
by what has already been said upon the subject ; 
and Mr. James appears to have received this 
part of the history with more indulgence than 
usual. He has even quoted a passage from it 
with apparent approbation, that in which the 
glorious career of Nelson is summed up with 
peculiar force and energy. We will give it in 
Captain Brenton's own words. 

"We have seen him as Captain of the Aga- 
memnon, writing his despatches while his ship 
lay aground in an enemy's port. We have seen 
him as captain of a 74 gun ship on the 14th of 



311 NAVAL HISTORY. 

February, lay a Spanish first-rate, and an 84 gun 
ship on board, and take them both. Equally 
great in the hour of defeat as in victory, see him 
at Teneriffe with his shattered arm going to the 
rescue of his companions, and saving their lives, 
while every moment of delay increased the peril 
of his own by hemorrhage and exhaustion. See 
him walk up the ship's side; hear him command 
the surgeon to proceed to amputation; and see 
the fortitude with which he bore the agonizing 
pain. Follow him to the Nile, and contemplate 
the destruction of the fleet of France, and the 
consequent loss of her vast army by Buonaparte. 
How great was his professional knowledge and 
decision at Copenhagen, when, despising death, 
he refused to obey the signal of recal, because he 
knew that by such obedience his country would 
have been disgraced, the great object of the ex- 
pedition frustrated, and Britain, overpowered by 
the increased energy of the northern confederacy, 
might have sunk under the multiplied force of 
her enemies. See him on the same occasion sit 
down in the midst of carnage, and address a 
letter to the Crown Prince of Denmark, which, 
while it gave victory to his country, added to 
her glory by stopping the useless effusion of 



NAVAL HISTORY. 315 

human blood. We have seen him the patient, 
watchful, and anxious guardian of our honour in 
the Mediteranean, when for two years, he sought 
an opportunity to engage an enemy of superior 
force. Three times we have seen him pursue 
(go in quest of) the foes of his country to Egypt, 
and once to the West Indies; and these steps he 
took entirely on his own responsibility, disre- 
garding any personal consideration, any calcula- 
tion of force, or any allurement of gain. Coming 
at last to the termination of his glorious career, 
the end of his life was worthy of all his other 
deeds. The battle of Trafalgar will stand, with- 
out the aid of sculpture or painting, the greatest 
memorial British naval valour ever exhibited. 
No pen can do justice to — no description can 
convey an adequate idea of — the glories of that 
day ; and the event which deprived us of our fa- 
vourite chief, consummated his earthly fame, and 
rendered his name for ever dear to his country. 
Had not his transcendent virtues (qr. abilities) 
been shaded by a fault, we might have been 
accused of flattery. No human being was ever 
perfect; and however we may regret the blemish 
in the affair of Carracioli, we must ever acknow- 
ledge that the character of Nelson, as a public 



316 NAVAL HISTORY. 

servant, is not exceeded in the history of the 
world." 

Dardanelles. 

We feel called upon to make a few obser- 
vations, and they shall be but few, upon the 
subject of the British squadron passing the Dar- 
danelles, under Vice Admiral Sir John Duck- 
worth. This we feel compelled upon to do, not 
only in vindication of Captain Brenton, who, Mr. 
James says, "never wilfully misses an opportu- 
nity of bepraising," (Sir John Duckworth), as 
well as appealing to the profession at large in 
behalf of that highly gallant and distinguished 
admiral, whose memory has been, we consider, 
hardly dealt with. In relieving Captain Bren- 
ton from the charge of partiality, we believe we 
might say, with correctness, that he never met 
with Sir John Duckworth in the whole course 
of his service in the navy — that he certainly 
never was under his command, or in a situation 
to meet even with favour or patronage from him. 
Our own opinion has always been, that had Sir 
John Duckworth attacked Constantinople, he 
would have met with a most serious repulse, and 
rendered his ultimate retreat from the Darda- 



NATAL HISTORY. 317 

nelles a matter of great difficulty and danger to 
his squadron. Mr. James himself in detailing 
the circumstance which actually occurred to the 
squadron in repassing the heavy batteries in these 
straits, shews what the consequences might have 
been, had the ships been in a crippled state; and 
perfectly justifies the statement of Captain Bren- 
ton, who, in comparing the force under Sir John 
Duckworth with that sent against Copenhagen 
under Lord Gambier, at once accounts for the 
different results. But whoever reads with atten- 
tion those passages relating to the conduct of Sir 
John Duckworth, wherever it has been the sub- 
ject of Mr. James's observation, will at once per- 
ceive that he did not come to this part of his 
history with an unprejudiced feeling; and that 
instead of the admiral "preparing a cushion for 
his fall," the historian was endeavouring to pre- 
pare his reader beforehand for a sentence of 
condemnation. I beg leave to offer a few obser- 
vations upon the subject, which although not 
immediately connected with the object I have in 
view, that of answering charges made against 
Brenton's "Naval History," may be excused 
when given in behalf of a distinguished but de- 
ceased brother officer and friend. 



318 NAVAL HISTORY. 

At page 188 of the third volume of James's 
"Naval History/' 2nd edit., he describes a chase 
after a French squadron of five sail of the line, 
and smaller vessels, on the 25th of December, 
1806, by that commanded by Sir John Duck- 
worth, consisting of six of the line, and two fri- 
gates. He says, "The chase continued with 
increased advantage to the British until one p.m., 
when the relative distances of the ships, accord- 
ing to the mean calculations of the two headmost 
British ships, were as follow — French sternmost 
ship from Superb about seven miles, Spencer 
astern of Superb about four miles, and Amethyst 
frigate rather nearer — Agamemnon about five 
miles astern of Spencer, and hull down to Su- 
perb — Acasta frigate, and Powerful 74, about 
twenty-two miles from Spencer, and out of sight 
from Superb — and Can opus and Donegal out of 
sight both of Spencer and Superb; — according 
to the statement of a contemporary, the computed 
distance between the Superb and the sternmost 
ship of her squadron, which we take to have been 
the Donegal, was, by meridian observation, about 
forty-five miles." 

Without impugning or questioning this state- 
ment, Mr. James proceeds to animadvert, with 



NAVAL HISTORY. 319 

great severity, upon the signal made by Sir John 
Duckworth for discontinuing the chace. He 
says — " In July 1801, without waiting for friends, 
the Superb dashed alone among the rearmost 
ships (two of them three deckers,) of the enemy's 
fleet, but Captain Keats was then the first, not 
the second officer in command of her." But 
how differently was the Superb placed on this 
day — instead of the British ships being so sepa- 
rated as to be at the distance from each other of 
four, nine, twenty-six, and forty-five miles astern 
of the Admiral, there could scarcely have been 
four miles between any part of the squadron 
under Sir James Saumarez. Mr. James says, 
"that to the joy of M. Willaumez, and to the 
surprise and, of course, the regret of such of the 
British ships as could see it, Sir John directed 
a signal to be hoisted annulling the chace." We 
should, on the contrary, suppose that M. Wil- 
laumez must have been greatly disappointed 
with the signal, as by the time the Superb 
could have got alongside of his sternmost ship, 
she must have so greatly increased the distance 
between the ships of the British squadron, as 
to render it almost a certain event that she 
must have been crippled by the united fire of 



320 NAVAL HISTORY. 

the whole French squadron, and that the Spen- 
cer must have shared the same fate in coming 
to her support — at least we cannot conceive a 
more favourable position for a retreating squad- 
ron to be placed than that of M. Willaumez's on 
this occasion. We do not believe that Lord 
Nelson himself would have persevered in attack- 
ing the enemy under such circumstances. 

The same feeling of prejudice is manifest in 
the account of Sir John Duckworth's action off 
St. Domingo, although he appears to have done 
all that a brave, and zealous, and talented officer 
could have done. Mr. James himself allows that 
the disparity of force was rather nominal than 
real, that the British squadron exceeded that of 
the French in number of vessels, rather than 
amount of force, and in smooth water the advan- 
tage of heavy metal is much increased by the 
concentration of fire from a three-decker. Sir 
John Duckworth took or destroyed the whole of 
the line of battle ships of the enemy. He could 
not be expected to prevent them from running on 
shore, with the land at a distance of only a mile 
from them, nor could he prevent the escape of 
the frigates whilst engaged with the ships of the 
line. Why then should Mr. James labour so 



NAVAL HISTORY. 321 

hard to disparage this action, and to indulge in 
such sarcastic remarks upon an officer whose 
whole professional life had obtained for him the 
respect and approbation of the service, and who 
never lost an opportunity of distinguishing him- 
self in action with the enemy. 

We can confidently appeal to the reader of 
Brenton's Naval History, whether, in his account 
of the chase on the 25th December, 1805, or in 
the action of the 6th February, 1806, he has not 
given a fair, a manly, and an intelligent account 
of both events — free from the slightest imputa- 
tion of partiality or prejudice, and at once honour- 
able to the officers concerned, as well as creditable 
to the zeal, the perseverance, and the valour of 
the squadron. 

We are very sorry to observe the same spirit of 
sarcasm evinced towards another distinguished 
and highly respected officer, Sir John Warren. 
We think the indulgence of such feelings quite 
derogatory to the dignity of history; and that 
where an officer has attained high rank, and passed 
a long course of service, with great credit to him- 
self and to his profession, receiving: distinguished 
marks of approbation from his sovereign and his 

Y 



322 NAVAL HISTORY. 

country, his name may be permitted to descend 
to posterity, unassailed by party feeling, or pri- 
vate pique. We can confidently assert, that 
throughout the whole of Brenton's Naval History, 
no such attacks have been made. When censured 
for the manner in which he had spoken of a gal- 
lant and distinguished officer, Admiral Sir George 
Montagu, he was no sooner convinced of his error, 
than he did all that an honourable man could do, 
to acknowledge and regret it, explaining the cir- 
cumstances under which it originated. 

It will be observed that the observations I have 
made, with a view to vindicate my brother's 
Naval History, have been mostly confined to the 
general actions. It is not that the account of 
single actions are not fairly belonging to such a 
work, or that any of them have been neglected, 
even when fought between sloops of war, or even 
smaller vessels. The encounters also between 
boats, and the many gallant achievements in 
cutting out vessels from the enemies' ports, were 
also recorded, when the account of such affairs 
reached the author, and justice done to the gallant 
officers and men by whom they were achieved. 
The sources of information from which these were 
to be obtained were necessarily limited, and often 



NAVAL HISTORY. 323 

the accounts themselves too questionable for in- 
sertion, unless the official account was inserted in 
the Gazette by Admiralty order. We believe 
that it was the general system with that board, 
that unless a capture was made, no letter was 
published. 

I have now endeavoured to pass in review the 
prominent features of Brenton's Naval History — 
that it is not without faults and errors, I freely 
admit ; but my object has been to vindicate the 
writer from the charges made against him, of 
presumption in undertaking such a work, and 
of uncalled for harshness and severity in the ex- 
ecution of it. I considered it most important to 
my brother's memory, that I should endeavour 
at least to meet and answer the censures which 
has been brought against him. I trust I have 
done so in kindness and caution; Avhether suc- 
cessfully or not, it is for the public to judge. The 
work and the criticisms are before them, and I 
cheerfully appeal to the deliberate judgment of 
the reader. I feel confident that I shall be ac- 
quitted of any intention of depreciating the repu- 
tation of the profession in which I have passed so 
many years. My object has been to remove the 



324 NAVAL HISTORY. 

false glare which has been thrown over some of 
the events recorded, which, if suffered to remain, 
would only tend to throw suspicion over others, 
and induce the rising generations to form an 
erroneous estimate of what is required to consti- 
tute a real triumph. 



LIFE 



THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT. 



There is no doubt that Captain Brenton felt 
greatly distressed at the manner in which the 
Life of the Earl of St. Vincent was commented 
upon in the Quarterly Review. This, how- 
ever, is an ordeal which every author must pass 
through, whose works are of sufficient importance 
to furnish subject for an article, nor could we 
wish it to be otherwise. By such a test the press 
is protected from much that might be injurious, 
and valuable works are brought to public notice. 
The criticism should be received as coming- from 
the guardians of our literature; but, as it is justly 
observed, "that from the sublime to the ridiculous 
there is but a step," men of powerful minds, with 
serious and important objects in view, will often 



326 LIFE OF THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT. 

stoop to the latter, indifferent as to the pain they 
may inflict, provided they can make the reader 
laugh. We have no intention of craving mercy, 
or deprecating censure, but as the work in ques- 
tion, and the review are both before the public, 
feel it a duty to offer such observations as may 
tend to the justification of the author. 

As to the writer of the article in the Review, 
it is of little importance who or what he may be. 
It is probable that party, more than personality, 
has influenced his feelings. It is to be wished 
that Captain Brcnton had left him to enjoy his 
concealment. The world is sufficiently skilful in 
detecting such disguises, although it may fre- 
quently err in its surmises. 

We feel more sorrow than anger, when we read 
the opening of this article in the Quarterly Re- 
view.* It begins with an uncalled for asperity, 
by which the animus of the writer is declared, 
and condemnation anticipated before the subject 
is brought before the reader, and must lead to a 
conviction that a latent hostility had long been 
cherished towards Captain Brenton's Naval His- 
tory, although not manifested; that the object of 
the reviewer was to crush both works, if possible, 

* See page 14. 



LIFE OF THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT. 327 

at one blow. The opinion volunteered by the 
writer, that Captain Brenton had but little expe- 
rience as an officer in the rank he held, might, or 
might not, be well-founded — if it were, then cer- 
tainly some reason should have been assigned for 
his assertion. An almost uninterrupted servitude 
of twenty-seven years, with plain good sense, and 
zealous exertion, would undoubtedly establish 
Captain Brenton's claim to a fair share of expe- 
rience in common with his brother officers, and 
he never assumed more. But the sarcastic re- 
mark which follows must not be entirely passed 
by, because it is due to Captain Brenton's memory 
and his character, to appeal to the reader of his 
works, whether he ever "put forth any of his 
good deeds."" We look in vain for even a soli- 
tary instance, and those circumstances where he 
received the approbation of his superiors, and 
was rewarded by promotion for his gallantry, 
would be unknown, but for the pages of a 
contemporary historian. The admission of his 
being an honourable man, and of unimpeachable 
moral character, we receive as his due, but see no 
reason why his professional qualifications should 
not have been as readily conceded, for he never 

* Quarterly Review, Vol. lxii. p. 494. 



328 LIFE OF THE EAUL OF ST. VINCENT. 

lost any opportunity of distinguishing himself as 
a good and gallant officer. 

The reviewer is evidently much pleased with 
the narrative dictated by Lord St. Vincent, which 
appears at the outset of the work, but is rather 
hard upon the author for not going on with the 
same minute account of the remainder of his 
career in the subordinate grades of the service. 
He would gladly have done so, undoubtedly, had 
the means been afforded him; but as they were 
not, he was obliged to proceed to those passages 
in the life of his hero, in which he found any 
thing to record. The following paragraph would 
therefore appear to be more the result of cap- 
tious disappointment, than a reasonable objection. 
" We may ask then," says the reviewer, " if Cap- 
tain Brenton has traced the progress of young 
Jervis in and from the Gloucester, where the 
auto-biographer left him, through the grades of 
able seaman, midshipman, lieutenant, and com- 
mander, until made captain — the stages in which 
the foundation must be laid for future fortunes. 
No such thing. He hurries away, not by a regu- 
lar progressive flood, but with the rapidity of what 
sailors call rollers, in one short paragraph of a 
few lines, and places, per saltern, our young coun- 



LIFE OF THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT. 329 

try lad, with his wide sleeved coat reaching to 
his heels, on the list of post captains." 

We know not whether the historian to whom 
we are indebted for the lives of Anson and Howe, 
has had the same reviewer to pronounce upon the 
merits of his works, but they have undoubtedly 
met with much more favour; the early years, and 
cockpit life of each of these great men, has been 
passed over nearly as summarily as that of St. 
Vincent, nor do we find either of them placed in 
a very prominent point of view, until they also 
had made their leap, and got upon the post list. 
We are quite sure that Captain Brenton would 
have thankfully received, and gladly inserted the 
interesting detail given by the reviewer in his 
428th page, had it come to his knowledge well 
authenticated : that it did not, was rather his 
misfortune than his fault. 

The charge contained in the same page, of the 
omission of an important scene, in which Sir 
John Jervis was engaged, viz., the relief of Gib- 
raltar under Lord Howe, is accounted for by 
Captain Brenton himself, having sent the memor- 
andum relating to it to Sir John Barrow, who 
was at that time writing the life of Earl Howe, 
and to whom he thought such a document might 
be useful and acceptable. 



330 LIFE OF THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT. 

From this paragraph the Life of Earl St. Vin- 
cent is allowed to run on very smoothly, without 
much comment or censure, till the mutiny — that 
fearful event, which brought into their strong 
and intense light, the great and sterling abilities 
of the noble earl. The relation of its commence- 
ment on board the Kingsfisher, I believe to be 
strictly true; but this, at all events, is capable 
of proof, by a reference to the minutes of the 
court-martial to which it led. Whether the 
anecdote respecting the "toast" be equally so, it 
is not in my power to determine; but I candidly 
acknowledge to have given it to Captain Brenton. 
I was an officer in Lord St. Vincent's fleet at 
the time ; the story was current in the different 
ships, was frequently the subject of conversation, 
and I never remember to have heard it doubted : 
my own conviction is that it is true, but in a 
modified form — that the earl, duly appreciating 
the decision by which Captain Maitland quelled 
the first appearance of mutiny, did actually drink 
his health, and that in the presence of many, if 
not all, the members of the court-martial. I can 
well remember the confidence with which the 
conduct of our noble admiral, under the awful 
circumstances in which he, and indeed the whole 



LIFE OF THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT. 331 

kingdom, was placed, inspired those under Lis 
command, and the cheerful obedience with which 
his orders were obeyed. 

The next question which seems to require the 
advocacy of Captain Brenton's friends, is a charge 
brought against him by the reviewer, in the fol- 
lowing terms — " We hinted at Mr. Brenton's 
want of judgment and discretion. We cannot 
give a stronger proof of it than the foisting into 
his narrative here, a whole chapter, of about thirty 
pages, of vituperation against Collingwood's let- 
ters. That these letters occasionally exhibit this 
great officer as peevish and garrulous, we fully 
agree ; but, as regards the writer, these letters 
were never meant to be seen by any but his own 
family and intimate friends; and, as regards his 
editor, we ought to reflect that truth is, after all, 
a prize for which we may be content to pay 
something. 

" Mr. Newnham Collingwood has enabled us to 
understand what the shades, as well as the lights, 
of his hero's character and history were;- and even 
if he has sometimes given us more of the dark 
than was called for, nobody could have been less 
entitled to sit as his judge than the present author. 
If now and then a passage occurs giving pain to 



332 LIFE OF THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT. 

some individual or individuals, we are sorry that 
it should be so, yet we are constrained to ask 
how such occurrences can be altogether avoided, 
in drawing up any thing like a complete narra- 
tive of a great man's active life, soon after the 
period of his decease. Men are made of flesh 
and blood, not of alabaster. And then what a 
golden part of its use and benefit does biography 
lose, if it will give us no intimation how the hero 
was tried and plagued by the conceit and obstinacy 
of others; or stating merely the grand results, 
places similar success almost out of our imagina- 
tion, by refusing to let us see that they were 
attained in spite of weaknesses, such as we feel 
in ourselves, and may, if not disheartened for the 
attempt, in like manner, each in his own sphere, 
overcome." 

Surely if this is a defence for Mr. Newnham 
Collingwood, and we freely admit it to be so, 
Captain Brenton should have an equal share of 
benefit from the maxim. We should have viewed 
the whole of this paragraph as written in justifi- 
cation of Captain Brenton, instead of being given 
as a strong proof of his want of judgment and 
discretion — and so much for the thirty pages of 
vituperation, none of which would have been 



LIFE OF THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT. 333 

called forth, but for the ill-advised publication of 
these very letters, or rather the imprudent se- 
lection of them. We would refer our readers to 
the letters themselves, and request their atten- 
tive perusal, as well as of the thirty pages which 
have given so much offence to the reviewer of 
the Life of St. Vincent. They will readily admit 
that it was natural for Captain Brenton to pro- 
tect his hero from the shade endeavoured to be 
cast over him, by the fabric raised to the glory 
of another. I have always admired Lord Col- 
lingwood, and respected him for his devotion to 
the service, of which he was a distinguished orna- 
ment; and, with the reviewer, regret that what 
was written for relatives and private friends, 
should have found its way into the public press, 
after which collision seems unavoidable. Both 
these great men occasionally manifested, in the 
performance of their official duties, a degree of 
eccentricity and peculiar mode of action, which 
could not fail to excite unpleasant feelings in their 
subordinates. But they have both passed off the 
stage of life — may the memory of each remain 
embalmed in the gratitude of their country, and 
their faults and their jarring be for ever for- 
gotten. 



334 LIFE OF THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT. 

But to show that Captain Brenton shared in 
that general respect and even admiration which 
the character of Lord Colling wood so deservedly- 
met with, both in and out of his profession, I will 
extract a few passages from the memoranda, 
found amongst his papers, and evidently written 
about the same period as the observations above- 
mentioned. 

In speaking of this very work, Lord Colling- 
wood's letters, he says — " The letter to Mr. 
Lane should, in our humble opinion, be printed 
and distributed gratis to every young man about 
to enter the naval service. The admiral's account 
of the 1st of June is one of the clearest and most 
authentic documents we ever met on a similar 
subject. We can follow the gallant officer — see 
with his glass — and almost fancy we hear his 
guns ; it leaves the vapid and unsatisfactory nar- 
rative of Lord Howe far in the shade, and tells 
us who was who on that day; at the same time, 
with singular tact and delicacy, he has not said 
one word of those who might have done more. 
Why CoHingwood's name was omitted in the 
despatches of this day, we are yet to learn; but 
justice, on this occasion, seems to have been 
wrested by force from the unwilling hands of 



LIFE OF THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT. 335 

government — they were driven to shame by his 
meekness, and relieved by his daring intrepidity 
in the battle of the 14th of February, 1797. His 
account of that glorious day has added to its 
glory, by the clear, modest, and masterly manner 
in which he describes a sea-fight, which, of all 
worldly transactions, is the most difficult to de- 
scribe. The medal here could not be withheld — 
the voices of the British and Spanish fleets gave 
it to him — and that for the 1st of June was pre- 
sented at the same time, for Collingwood declared, 
that he would have both or none : he had done 
his duty equally under Lord Howe as he had 
done under Sir John Jervis. He could not help 
feeling almost a spiteful satisfaction (p. 32) that 
Lord Howe's victory was out-clone. And cer- 
tainly it was — Sir John Jervis, who on that day 
gained the title of Earl St. Vincent, was the first 
officer who had dared to attack a fleet of double 
his force. 

"The suppression of the mutiny, however, was 
a far more brilliant gem in the coronet of Earl 
St. Vincent than even his capture of four sail of 
the line out of twenty-seven, with a fleet of 
fifteen ; and while the fortiter in re of the chief 
subdued the daring ring-leaders to submission, 



336 LIFE OF THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT. 

the amiable and quiet Collingwood led the minor 
spirits with a hair. The odious cat-o'-nine-tails 
he seldom used, but like Prospero, with his wand, 
he charmed the turbulent spirits of the deep. 
Corporeal punishment, no doubt, is necessary, 
and cannot be dispensed with; but no man ever 
fought more, or did more with his ship, and used 
it less. He proved that such a system of discip- 
line was an art to be acquired, and he leaves 
many of the officers of his own time to regret that 
they did not attain this perfection of the master 
spirit. The regulations of the Admiralty upon 
this head have gone a long way to remedy this 
evil, but Collingwood laid the axe at the root of 
the tree, and it is impossible to say how much the 
country may be indebted to him for his prudence 
and humanity." 

I believe, and it is but justice to the memory 
of this distinguished chief to mention it here, 
that the present excellent regulations for restrict- 
ing punishment in the navy, within proper limits, 
and laying the full weight of responsibility upon 
the captain by whose authority it is inflicted, 
originated with Lord Collingwood, who, in con- 
sequence of undue severity having been exercised 
by the commander of a sloop of war, made such 



LIFE OF THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT. 337 

representations to the Admiralty as gave rise to the 
present salutary regulations. But having given 
the noble and gallant lord that credit for his cou- 
rage, talents, and discipline which is so justly his 
due, Captain Brenton proceeds to shew another 
qualification he possessed, scarcely inferior in 
value to the others in a great naval commander 
— the strict and watchful economy over the 
stores supplied to his fleet. He says : " His 
economy in naval stores was another military 
virtue which he brought into fashion. Admiral 
Cornwallis, it is true, went before him in this 
branch of management; but carried it to such 
an excess as to endanger the lives of his men 
and the safety of his ships. " An instance he 
gives of Lord Collingwood's economy is at once 
an original and an amusing one. Alluding to 
some proverbial saying, that when a man is go- 
ing to fight a duel, he should put on an old coat, 
quite good enough to make a hole in, — Colling- 
wood applied this to his ship at the battle of the 
14th of Feb., when he condoled with his boat- 
swain (poor Peter Peffers) on their mutual 
forgetfulness to bend an old foretopsail to fight 
in: "They will quite ruin the new one." 

Of the great and crowning act of Lord Col- 
z 



338 LIFE OF THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT. 

lingwood's professional life, we find the following 
observations amongst those MS. of Captain 
Brenton's : 

"The history of the battle of Trafalgar is 
now almost worn thread-bare. We have had 
it served up in as many shapes as it is said a 
French cook can dress an egg ; but we can 
never tire of such short and pithy passages as 
those in pp. 112, et seq. I never could read 
them without feeling what the ladies call, 'an 
egg in the throat/ i. e. a certain inclination to 
cry." 

Our author next proceeds to vindicate Lord 
Collingwood's memory from a charge which had 
been brought against him for disregarding the 
dying injunctions of his friend, Lord Nelson, in 
not anchoring the fleet, and says, i( Mr. Colling- 
wood has amply and abundantly rescued the 
memory of his noble relative from this charge, 
preferred against him by a landsman; but it 
appears to us that the world has been generally 
under a mistake as to the last words of Nelson, 
who, when he desired Hardy to anchor, knew 
that there was little wind, and smooth water. 
Under these circumstances, to have anchored, 
and collected the scattered ships, would have 
been prudent; but very soon after, the case was 



LIFE OF THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT. 339 

entirely altered: the wind increased, the sea got 
up, the ships' cables were found to be shot away 
— the wind backed to the S.S.W., and offered a 
prospect of weathering the land with the dis- 
abled ships and prizes in tow. This was, there- 
fore, not to be disregarded, and Collingwood, 
who saw with a seaman's eye, gladly seized the 
occasion. Many ships, however, were compelled 
to anchor, and, as by way of experiment, soon 
proved the impossibility of riding out the gale in 
the disasters which followed each other in such 
rapid succession. Cables parted, rudders un- 
shipped, and wrecks on the coast in all direc- 
tions, afforded our officers an opportunity of 
displaying as much seamanship and humanity to 
save as they had shewn courage and ardour in 
vanquishing their enemy." 

In another part of these memoranda, we find 
the following passage : 

" Lord Collingwood was grieved that he did 
not accompany his friend, Nelson, to the Nile. 
He took it ill of Lord St. Vincent; but he for- 
got that his being kept off Cadiz, with the 
admiral, who knew and valued his character, 
was perhaps as great a compliment as could 
have been paid him. The fortune of war cer- 



340 LIFE OF THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT. 

tainly threw him out of that great action; but 
no one was to blame for this." 

It was with great satisfaction that I discovered 
the papers from which these extracts are taken. 
They shew the real estimate which my brother 
had formed of Lord Collingwood's character ; 
nor would any of the remarks which have called 
forth the reviewer's animadversions have been 
made, but for the unfortunate — not to say in- 
judicious and indiscriminate — publication of 
private letters, where sentiments were expressed 
respecting the conduct of Earl St. Vincent in 
command, which appeared to the writer of his 
life as calling for notice and vindication. But 
we repeat our entreaty, that the reader would 
turn to these pages, and judge for himself how 
far they are inconsistent with these extracts, as 
calculated to detract from the great and sterling 
merits of Lord Collingwood. 

It has been said that Captain Brenton wrote 
the Life of Earl St. Vincent not only without 
the sanction, but against the wishes, of his rela- 
tives. Now, let us hear what he says upon the 
subject himself: 

" When I accompanied Lord St. Vincent to 
the south of France, I asked him whether he 



LIFE OF THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT. 341 

would approve of my writing his life, if I should 
survive him. He replied, ' I am very much 
obliged to you ; but Tucker is to do it.' From 
that moment I gave up all thoughts of the pre- 
sent undertaking, and only published such letters 
in the Naval History as I deemed pertinent to 
the subject in hand ; nor did I contemplate ever 
doing more, until I found, that if I did not, the 
public would probably be deprived altogether of 
an authentic biography of my distinguished 
friend. 

" About seven years after the death of the 
earl, I received a letter from Viscount St. Vin- 
cent, requesting me to lend him my papers for 
the purpose of getting the life of his uncle writ- 
ten. To this request I immediately assented, 
and forwarded to the viscount every letter I had 
ever copied, together with all my papers, private 
memorandum-books, and even the papers relative 
to the Chancery suit. I also made, at the same 
time, an unconditional offer of the use of the 
plate engraved by Turner, from the picture of 
the earl by Carbennier. 

" After this statement, I shall scarcely be 
accused of selfish motives in refusing to part with 
the documents in question in the first instance. 



342 LIFE OF THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT. 

In fact, though I refused to part with the letters 
when they were attempted to be wrested from 
me by force, I gave them up without hesitation 
to a gentlemanly request, and a promise that 
they should be returned when applied to the 
purpose for which I had intended them. 

" The lapse of another seven years took place; 
no life of the earl appeared; and Tucker was 
dead. In the mean time, I heard that Lord 
Brougham was entrusted with the work, and I 
therefore wrote to his lordship, requesting to 
know if he had any intention of proceeding with 
it; adding, that if he had no intention of doing 
so, I should certainly take the work in hand 
myself. His lordship's answer was kind and 
candid. He admitted that it had been his in- 
tention to write the life of the earl, but that 
circumstances had hitherto prevented it; that he 
had not wholly relinquished the idea of writing 
it, but begged he might not prevent my doing 
it; and he concluded by expressing a wish that 
I should not hurry it, as I had mentioned my 
intention of bringing it out in six months from 
the date of my letter. About the same time, I 
wrote to the Viscount St. Vincent, requesting 
to have my papers returned to me, which his 



LIFE OF THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT. 343 

lordship did with as little delay as possible. 
Having thus regained possession of the most 
material documents connected with my purpose, 
I prepared, in good earnest, to go to work; but 
before I actually commenced the life, I addressed 
a second letter to Lord Brougham, which I mv- 
self left at his house in Berkeley Square. In 
that letter I distinctly stated, that if his lordship 
would say he had any intention of writing the 
life of the Earl of St. Vincent, I would wholly 
abandon my intention of doing so. 

" To this last letter I never received any an- 
swer. Having thus, as I considered, done all 
which delicacy and honour required of me, I 
undertook to write the life of the Earl of St. 
Vincent, under the firm conviction that, in de- 
fault of my doing so, his character and actions, 
and the influence which they exercised on the 
condition and history of his profession and his 
country, would remain unrecorded." 

In corroboration of this statement, I have 
myself frequently, during the lapse of the four- 
teen years above mentioned, urged my valued 
friend, Mr. Jedidiah Tucker, after the death of 
his lamented and respected father, to bring out 
the history of the life of the Earl St. Vincent, 



344 LIFE OF THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT. 

urging the importance of its being done while 
there were so many witnesses living who could 
testify to his great actions, and still greater qua- 
lities; and I can confidently appeal to him as to 
the earnestness with which I frequently repeated 
the request. 

With regard to that part of the charge — as- 
serting that the work was written by Captain 
Brenton, " against the wishes of the relatives" — 
the following extract from a letter from Viscount 
St. Vincent will effectually exonerate him: 

***** "lam truly sorry to find that the 
kind loan of your MSS. has not led to the ful- 
filment, as I hoped it would, of the late earl's 
instructions. I shall write by this post to Mr. 
Tucker, as the executor of his father, to forward 
them to me in town, in order that I may return 
them to you. 

" I heartily wish you success in your proposed 
work, and shall greatly rejoice to see placed be- 
fore the public the many transactions in which 
my late illustrious relative bore so distinguished 
a part. 

" The situation in which I am placed, as a 
trustee, and successor to one of his titles, will 






LIFE OF THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT. 345 

not admit of my taking any other course than 
the one expressly directed by him in regard to 
the history of his life, as long as any hope re- 
mains that such a course will be ultimately pur- 
sued. 

" If you should wish to see me upon any point, 
at any time, on the subject of your proposed 
work, I shall be most happy to wait upon you, 
or to receive you here; and any thing I can do, 
which is not inconsistent with the line of my 
duty, I shall gladly perform. 

" I am, dear sir, 

" Sincerely yours, 
(Signed) " St. Vincent." 

This letter appears to offer a most complete 
vindication of my brother's conduct, as far as 
relates to his writing the life of Earl St. Yin- 
cent. He always evinced the greatest anxiety 
that it should be written in conformity to the 
wishes of the noble earl himself; nor do we 
despair of such yet being the case ; but it is 
scarcely to be expected that Lord Brougham 
can devote his valuable time to such labours as 
naval biography must require, particularly when 
the object is to transmit to posterity the great 



346 LIFE OF THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT. 

achievements and splendid qualities of one who 
rose by his own merit to the summit of his pro- 
fession, and whose example may have so power- 
ful an influence in forming the characters of our 
future naval commanders. 

Lord Brougham has recently given a brilliant 
and masterly sketch of the character of the noble 
earl ; and few will question the accuracy of the 
following observations: 

" The present sketches would be imperfect, if 
Lord St. Vincent were passed over in silence ; 
for he was almost as distinguished among the 
statesmen as among the warriors of the age. 

" This great captain, indeed, presented a union 
as rare as it was admirable, of the highest qua- 
lities which can adorn both civil and military 
life." 

Here the great outline is given with striking 
effect; but when is this to be filled up by the 
introduction of the actions and events by which 
this greatness was obtained? The want of 
diligent and careful research is evident from 
what has already appeared. Some features are 
swelled beyond their due proportion, and others 
so slightly passed over as to deprive them of 
their value. Thus, in speaking of the action in 



LIFE OF THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT. 347 

which Captain Jervis took the Pegaze, Lord 
Brougham says, "An action which he soon after 
fought with the Foudroyant line-of-battle ship 
was the most extraordinary display of both va- 
lour and skill witnessed in that war so fertile in 
great exploits, and it at once raised his renown 
to the highest pitch."* This eulogium far ex- 
ceeds the merits of the action, and will not be 
responded to either by the profession or the 
country. The noble earl himself would have 
been the first to reject it. Our naval history is 
full of instances of contests between ships of 
equal force, (even where there was none of the 
constructive assistance of the fleet of one of the 
combatants rapidly approaching, as was the case 
in this instance,) in which the British arms have 
been crowned with victory. Not that the action 
was void of great merit ; for every action is me- 
ritorious where duty is faithfully performed; and 
in this instance it was most properly rewarded ; 
but it must not be recorded as one on which the 
pinnacle of the Earl St. Vincent's fame rests, 
which it assumes to be here. His lordship is 
again in error when he says, " The peace then 
came ; and it was followed by a war, the only 
* Lord Brougham's Second Series of Historical Sketches, p. 157. 



348 LIFE OF THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT. 

one in which the fleets of England reaped no 
laurels, until, just before its close, the bravery 
and seamanship of Rodney retrieved our naval 
honour."" Now, the war in which the Pegaze 
was taken by the Foudroyant, and that in which 
Count de Grasse was defeated by Rodney, was 
one and the same: the latter victory was gained 
by Rodney on the 12th of April, 1782, and the 
capture of the Pegaze took place on the 20th 
day of the same month and year ! 

Again, in Lord Brougham's sketch, it is 
stated: "For near twenty years Sir John Jervis 
was thus unemployed; and, in part, this neglect 
must certainly be ascribed to the side in politics 
which he took — being a Whig, of Lord Shel- 
burne's school." The fact is, that at the con- 
clusion of the war, in the latter end of 1782, 
Captain Jervis paid off the Foudroyant, and in 
1790 he hoisted his flag in the Prince, and 
cruized in the Channel Fleet, under Lord 
Howe, during the Spanish armament. Here 
is only a lapse of seven years. In 1793, Sir 
John Jervis was appointed to the command in 
the West Indies, where he arrived early in 
January, 1794, (his command in the Mediterra- 
* Historical Sketches by Lord Brougham, Second Series, p. 157. 



LIFE OF THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT. 349 

nean did not take place till 1796.) What, then, 
becomes of the "long and eventful period on 
shore for near twenty years, and unemployed in 
any branch of the public service?" 

These anachronisms may not be very import- 
ant in the description of character, where there 
are so many other circumstances on which it is 
founded, and it is with great deference and re- 
spect that we venture to point them out; but 
correctness as to dates and successions of events 
is indispensable in biography, from which the 
materials of history are so often extracted. 
What, then, would have been the effect, should 
this have been the only account of Lord St. 
Vincent published? We must claim for Captain 
Brenton, at all events, the credit of having at 
least endeavoured to be the faithful narrator of 
the life of the noble earl; and having, at the 
same time, collected materials for more able 
pens to place him in his proper position in the 
annals of his country. But in reference to Lord 
Brougham's work, these errors are well atoned 
for by the splendid and most striking illustra- 
tions of the characters of our two great naval 
heroes, which are so happily combined, and so 
feelingly described in the subsequent pages of 



350 LIFE OF THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT. 

these sketches — so just, so accurately descrip- 
tive, and accompanied by such awakening, and, 
we may add, such affecting reflections. We can 
only regret that the history of both these men 
could not have been entirely written by his 
lordship; but we freely admit, that the labour of 
research and reference would have rendered this 
nearly impossible. 

In page 445, Captain Brenton is attacked by 
his reviewer with great severity, and some 
coarseness, for the sentiments he offers upon the 
subject of impressment. It has been shewn, 
that deplorable as the system appeared to be 
in his view, he always admitted its absolute 
necessity, and only lamented that no steps had 
been taken in the long interval of twenty-two 
years, since the peace, to find some substitute 
for the measure. The absolute necessity of this 
is daily becoming more obvious. To prove this 
to be the case, we would refer to that able and 
excellent pamphlet, published some years since 
by an esteemed brother officer, Captain (now 
Rear- Admiral) Griffiths, which must convince 
every reader that such a resource for manning 
the navy cannot be available for any length of 
time, and that it is of vital importance to the 



LIFE OF THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT. 351 

best interests of the country that some more 
effectual mode should be adopted. If it be true 
that Great Britain derives her consequence as a 
first-rate power from her naval superiority, and 
her extensive colonies, then it becomes indis- 
pensable that these should not be dependant for 
support upon a precarious supply of seamen. 
The peace-establishment for our ships of war 
should be kept up on such a footing as to admit 
of their being completed for war by means of 
sources which may be relied upon. 

This subject is one of intense interest, and to 
none more so than to those who have passed 
their days in the navy; and it does appear that 
an officer might be permitted to express his 
anxiety upon such a question, without being 
subjected to such terms of abuse as are lavished 
upon Captain Brenton in this passage. We be- 
lieve that he has gone far in pointing out the 
means of decreasing the necessity for impress- 
ment gradually, and of entirely abolishing it in 
future, by his suggestions for bringing up sea- 
men, at the public expense, in such numbers as 
to relieve the suffering part of the community 
from the distress in which they are involved, 
and that the relief thus afforded would be, in a 



352 LIFE OF THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT. 

great measure, provided for by the diminution 
of prison expenses, penal colonies, and poors' 
rate. At all events, should his views be erro- 
neous, and his calculations defective, common 
courtesy would dictate that he might have credit 
for his good intentions. 

That crimes will be committed, convictions 
take place, and the maintenance of convicts pro- 
vided for, there can be no doubt; but if by a 
great national effort the number of criminals 
may be diminished, and the immense sums now 
expended in the restraint and punishment of 
offenders against the laws of the country, could 
be transferred to the increase and support of its 
defenders, few will hesitate in admitting that the 
experiment, at least, should be made, or in de- 
nying that there is any mawkish sentimentality 
in the suggestion. 

So far from implying the slightest degree of 
censure or disrespect to Sir James Graham, we 
know that Captain Brenton considered him as 
one of the most active and judicious men who 
had ever filled the high and most important 
office of First Lord of the Admiralty. He ad- 
mitted the excellence of Sir James Graham's 
bill, as far as it went, and only lamented that it 
could not have been carried farther. 



CONCLUSION. 



Having now gone through the various subjects 
on which I have been induced to offer my re- 
marks upon the character and conduct of my 
brother, and in my endeavours to vindicate his 
memory from the charges which had been 
brought against him, which I have sought to do 
in perfect charity with every one, it only re- 
mains for me to give an account of the un- 
expected termination of his valuable life — for 
valuable it must be allowed to have been even 
by those who differed with him in sentiments 
and views, and to submit the whole statement 
to the deliberate judgment and sentence of his 
brother-officers and of his country. 

Various cruel reports were circulated at the 
period of his death, as to the immediate cause of 
it, highly injurious to his memory : these, we 

2a 



354 CONCLUSION. 

trust, have been effectually contradicted by the 
verdict of the coroner's inquest; but we have it 
in our power to give a particular detail, by which 
the cheerful and sane state of his mind to the 
very last is fully confirmed. 

On the 5th of April 1839, the day preceding 
his death, he began his last letter to me ; but as 
the postscript was written on the following morn- 
ing, it is to be considered as written on the very 
day he died. 

He was deeply interested in the progress of 
an Institution then in its infancy, of which he 
had been doing the duty of honorary secretary — 
the Society for the relief of the shipwrecked 
Mariners and Fishermen. It was proposed to 
have a dinner for the promotion of its Funds at 
the London Tavern, and Sir Robert Peel had 
kindly consented to take the chair. Captain 
Brenton was a member of a Committee of ma- 
nagement for making the necessary arrangements. 
The following are extracts from the letter: — 

66 My peregrinations to the London Tavern 
to-day were deeply interesting, in spite of the 
snow, rain, and sleet. I was there from 11 to 2, 
and well employed all the time. The circular 



CONCLUSION. 



355 



on the other side is for the West End of the town, 
(the other is in the hands of the merchants.*) 
I hope we shall have one hundred stewards, at 
least ; the whole expense to each of these func- 
tionaries will be £1. I put down your name 
and my own, cum multis aliis, pour encourager les 
autres, and I think it will have good effect. You 
may have double allowance of dinner, if you 
like. We think, in the city, the room will be a 
bumper. Sir Robert is decidedly popular there. 
But if you don't like to be a steward, you need 
not, though I think you ought to be ; but never 
mind that. I have got a short and sweet letter 
to night from a Mr. Abbiss, desiring my accept- 
ance of a fifty pound Bank of England note for 
the shipwrecked fishermen and mariners. He 
gives no other date but the 5th of April, and it 
came by post. There is no such name in the 
Red Book, and I must thank him in the public 
papers. I am on the dinner committee. We 
sit at the London Tavern every day, as I told 
you, from 11 to 4, Sundays excepted. One or 
the other of us is to be there. We are going on 



* He had taken upon himself the task of canvassing- at the West 
End, and his letter was written upon the fly sheet of a circular 
printed for the purpose. 



356 CONCLUSION. 

very well; nothing can be better. You will see 
my advertisement in the morning papers to- 
morrow; and if you are fond of hearing me 
abused, read The Times of to-day. But you 
must keep one ear for my story. The boy Trub- 
shaw has, I believe, done us great good by his 
overcharged malignity. I feel no sort of un- 
easiness about it, and only laugh at it. 

"I am, as you may suppose, very busy; but 
your orders shall be attended to as far as I am 
able. I have not any papers by me, but I will 
tell Richards to send you some to-morrow. Mr. 
C. says you must put brown paper upon your 
rheumatical, sciatical limbs. Adieu for to-night 
— I am very tired — up at a quarter past six. I 
am a poor man with a large family, but certainly 
not out of work.* What a nice day this has 
been! 

" < In frost and snow his fingers he'll blow, 
And wish the cold weather away.' 

(An old school song.) 

" I begin to think now I shall see my head on 
the Italian boys' boards, either as the kidnapping- 
captain, or the philoprogenitive." (His bust had 

* Alluding to the Children's Friend Institution. 



CONCLUSION. 357 

been just finished by Mr. Beynes, to which he 
thus playfully alluded.) He concludes, 

" Adieu, affectionately yours, 

" Edward." 

On the following morning he adds this post- 
script: "I send this off before eight; if any thing 
should come after breakfast, I will write again." 

He went at eleven o'clock to the London 
Tavern, and remained there till four; returned 
home by five, and sat down to dinner with Mrs. 
Brenton half an hour after. She describes him 
to have been remarkably cheerful during the 
evening, and having his tea at the usual hour. 
But at half-past eight he complained of being 
unwell; he retired to bed immediately, and his 
medical adviser was sent for, who came directly, 
but only in time to see him breathe his last, 
which he did before nine o'clock. 

In the diary for the last day of the preceding 
year there is a passage which makes it evident 
that my lamented brother was not without some 
anticipations of a sudden call, and accordingly 
prepared for it. He says: 

" Thus ends this year. And now let me re- 
turn my most humble and hearty thanks to the 



358 CONCLUSION. 

Great Giver of all good things for his infinite 
mercy to me and mine through the eventful 
course of it. May his divine grace remain in 
our souls, and render us grateful to Him whose 
indulgent care demands all our praises and 
thanksgivings. May we ever bear in mind, that 
our summons from hence to eternity may arrive 
at a moment when we do not expect it. Let us, 
then, be prepared; and may the same Almighty 
arm support us in our last moments, as it has 
done from the beginning; and this I beg for 
Jesus Christ's sake, our Great Redeemer and 
Advocate. Amen." 

We believe this sincere and fervent prayer to 
have been most graciously heard and answered, 
and that the pious and faithful supplicant was 
permitted to exercise and enjoy his means of 
usefulness, and exemption from any great de- 
gree of suffering to the last hour of his life. 

We have been particular in giving extracts 
from his letters and memoranda, which under 
other circumstances would appear trifling and 
irrelevent ; but as they indicate a mind at ease, 
and at peace, they will enable the reader to ap- 
preciate the reports in the newspapers accord- 
ing to their just value, and to come to the 



CONCLUSION. 359 

conclusion, that the faithful servant of God, 
havino- done his work here, was called away to 
enter into the joy of his Lord. 



PRINTED BY ARTHUR FOSTER, KIRE^T LONSDALE. 



ERRATA. 

Page 139, line 10, for their read those. 

— 152, line 4 from bottom, for these read those. 

— 251, line 5 from bottom, for River read Riou. 

— 282, line 8, for these read their. 

— 298, lines 5, 6, from bottom, for the then read these. 



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